Bernice Pinkert

Bernice "Bea" Pinkert, age 92, of Big Stone City, SD, passed away peacefully on Thursday, January 4, 2024, at the Milbank Hospital.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 8, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank. Rev. Chris Davis will officiate. Visitation will be at Mundwiler Funeral Home in Millbank on Sunday, January 7, from 5 – 7 p.m. and continue at the church on Monday, one hour prior to the service. Burial will be at St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, rural Milbank. Casket bearers will be her grandchildren. Honorary bearers will be her great-grandchildren and the care givers at Avantara – Milbank.

The service will be live streamed, recorded and viewable below this obituary.

Bea was born on August 29, 1931, to Fred and Hulda (Fahje) Winter in their family home in Everglade Township, Stevens County, MN.  Born into a strong faith and family-focused German heritage, Bea was baptized on September 13, 1931, in the home of her grandparents and later confirmed on May 20, 1945. Her childhood through the Great Depression was met with adversity, shaping her into the resilient, resourceful, strong woman that she was. She was largely raised by her grandmother, Maria Fahje and Aunt Frieda Fahje, while her mother worked a train-ride away to feed Bea and her three sisters.  At age ten, her mother remarried and the family eventually moved to Waukesha, WI.  Her younger sister and two brothers were born.  Bea started working at age 13, to include picking cherries in Door County.  She eventually left home to live with a sister, then moved to Ortonville, MN, to live with Aunt Frieda and finish her last two years of high school.  She graduated from Ortonville High School in 1949, where she met Armin Pinkert.

Bea married Armin Pinkert on December 3, 1949, at First English Lutheran Church in Ortonville. They moved to the Pinkert family farm, where Bea and Armin farmed and lived the rest of their lives.  They were blessed with five sons: David, James, Neil, Gene, and Jeff.  She was an active member of Emanuel Lutheran Church in Milbank and actively involved in Ladies of Emanuel.  She also taught Sunday School at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Alban Township, just down the road from their home.  Bea was a 4-H Leader for 20 years and involved with Extension Club for 40 years.  After raising five boys, she worked as an Activities Coordinator at Whetstone Valley Care Center for 11 years.

Bea was a master of baking, gardening, crafting, and hosting family. Her early years of sewing with her mother and grandmother resulted in a lifetime of crocheting, quilting, cross-stitching and crafting for loved ones and church. She proudly crocheted afghans for all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Bea spent many hours in her gardens and growing plants in her home.  Bea and Armin enjoyed warm winters away in Florida, Arizona, California, Hawaii and Mexico.

Bea is survived by her sons: Neil (Sonja) of Big Stone City, SD; Gene (Leah) of Big Stone City, SD; Jeff (Lisa) of Bellvue, CO; grandchildren: Karen, Cindy, Tammy, Heather, Melissa, Amanda, Chris, Sean, Chase; and 14 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Armin Pinkert; sons: David and James; parents and step-father; and her siblings.

The family would like to thank the wonderful staff at Avantara for their care, as well as the nurses who cared for Bea at Avera-Milbank Hospital and Clinic.