November 22, 1955 - December 18, 2021
In loving memory ~
With great sadness the Kempling family announces the passing of Bernice Anne Kempling (nee Schweighardt) at the Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Hospice in Kamloops, BC on December 18, 2021. She endured a five and a half-year struggle with multiple myeloma cancer. Bernice was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, November 22, 1955, the eldest of three sisters. She met her husband Chris on a blind date set up by a mutual friend, and were married, May 1, 1976 (by Chris' father, Rev. Ed Kempling) at Port Alberni United Church.
Bernice worked at the University of Victoria Law School in the late 1970's as the secretary to the Assistant Dean of Law, where she was one of the first to acquire word processing computer skills. After the family moved to Quesnel, Bernice worked as a secretary at Correlieu Secondary School, then as a legal secretary for lawyer Geoffrey Barrow. She later opened Tech-Star Training in Maple Park Mall with business partner Bob Taft, a private computer and job skills training school. She made a big contribution to helping people update their skills for the changing job market.
After the family relocated to Kamloops in 2008, Bernice worked as an on-line stenographer for three different U.S.-based transcription companies, and rose to a supervisor's position at SpeakWrite in Austin, Texas. Her illness forced her retirement.
Bernice was an active hockey mom and volunteered as President of the Quesnel Roller Hockey Association. She loved having her children's friends visit the house, or join us on vacations and hockey trips. That hospitality continued when they had children of their own. She was "Gma Bernie" to many.
Bernice is pre-deceased by her parents Wilfed and Eva Schweighardt and her younger sister Joan McDonald, all of Port Alberni. She is survived by her husband Christopher, her two daughters Adrienne Yates (Peter) and Dalyce Gouin of Kamloops, and her son Justin Kempling (Nicole) of Clinton. Her five grandchildren--Brayden, Hannah, Brynley, Sadie and Leena--will miss their beloved Gma dearly.
A celebration of life will be held in Victoria, BC on May 1, 2022. Contact chriskempling@shaw.ca for details. In memoriam donations to the Kamloops Hospice Association would be most welcome.