Funeral services for Bernice Jahnke Koecher, age 85, of Albert Lea, will be at 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 28, at Mansfield Lutheran Church. The Rev. Don Rose will officiate. Interment will be in the Mansfield Township Cemetery. Visitation is one hour prior to the services at the church.

Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements. To sign the guest book, go to .

Bernice died Thursday, March 24, 2005, at Thorne Crest Retirement Center.

Bernice Koecher was born June 20, 1919, to Andrew and Jenny (Beck) Christensen in Tyler, Minn.

On April 10, 1941, she was united in marriage to Harold Jahnke at Mansfield Lutheran Church. The couple farmed in the area and Bernice was also employed at the Urbatsch Veterinary Clinic in Albert Lea. In later years, Harold and Bernice were caretakers of apartment buildings in Ellendale and Albert Lea. Harold died Aug. 21, 1990. On Sept. 16, 1995, Bernice and Fred Koecher were married at the Thorne Crest Chapel. He preceded her in death Sept. 4, 1998. Bernice was a member of Mansfield Lutheran Church and the ladies’ aid. She loved animals and enjoyed caring for them.

Survivors include brother-in-law, Maynard Jacobson; sisters-in-law: Gwen Christensen Marie Jahnke, Anna Jahnke, and Bertha Larson; special friends, Dick and Delores Weller; and many nieces and nephews.

Bernice was preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, Harold Jahnke and Fred Koecher; brothers: Eddie, Bernard, and John; and sister, Annabel Jacobson.