Surnames: Gauger, Schultz, Stargardt, Abbott, Kommer, Boers, Sauerbrei, Bauger

----Source: Marshfield News Herald (Marshfield, Wood County, Wis.) Thu., 25 Nov. 2004

-Gauger, Berniece M. (1 Feb. 1921 - 23 Nov. 2004)

SPENCER - Berniece M. Gauger, age 83, of the town of Spencer, entered eternal life Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2004, at her home.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Marshfield. The Rev. Robert Brandt will officiate. Jolene Albert will provide music, with Bill Allen serving as soloist. Burial will be in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery.

Friends May call from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Hansen Funeral Home and one hour prior to service time Monday at the church.

She was born Feb. 1, 1921, on the family farm in the town of Spencer, a daughter of Fredrick and Augusta (Schultz) Stargardt. She graduated from Spencer High School and received her teaching certificate from Marathon County Normal School. Berniece continued her education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she received her bachelor's degree in education and her library science accreditation.

Berniece was united in marriage to Alvin Gauger on June 9, 1945, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Spencer. The couple owned and operated a dairy farm in the town of Spencer from 1945 until 1979. Besides being a wife and homemaker, Mrs. Gauger was an elementary school teacher from 1940, when she began teaching at Romeo School. She later taught at Sawyer School, Willow Brook and Cameron Schools in Spencer, and Unity and Colby elementary schools, and from 1961 until 1982, she was the librarian at Spencer Public Schools.

She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church and the Chequamegon Bird Club. Berniece was an avid reader and enjoyed fishing, card playing and gardening.

She is lovingly survived by her husband, Alvin Gauger of Spencer; son, Larry (Pam) Gauger of Houston; daughter, Jan Gauger of Verona; one grandchild, Shane Abbott; and two great-grandchildren, Alyssa and Devin. Two sisters, Erma (Norman) Kommer of Spencer and Ruth Boers of Brandon, further survive Berniece.

Her parents; a brother, William Stargardt; sisters, Franciska Sauerbrei, Pauline Stargardt, and a twin sister, Bernadine Bauger, preceded Berniece in death.