Eucharist Christian Burial for Bernadette Martha (Kulas) Pintok, 88, of Holdingfold, was held Nov. 23, 2024, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Opole with the Rev. Greg Sauer officiating. Interment was in the parish cemetery.
Bernadette passed away Nov. 18, at 4:27 a.m., at Talamore Senior Living Center in St. Cloud.
She was raised in the community of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church of St. Anna. The oldest of three children, Bernadette was born July 18, 1936, to the late Stanislaus and Mary (Langner) Kulas. She attended a small country school during her elementary years and graduated from Holdingford High School in 1953. Bernadette’s learning didn’t stop with her graduation. She continued as an avid reader all her life, never shying away from an opportunity to open a book and learn something new. And yet, Bernadette’s love of books never hindered her knack for adventure or travel. Drawn to the excitement of the big city, as a young woman Bernadette worked for a short time in the St. Paul School District administrative office, absorbing all the grandeur of city life. Yet, in the end, her deep and abiding love for her soulmate and for his love of farming finally brought her back home.
She met her love, Raymond Pintok, at a friend’s wedding. Though she started off not too impressed with Ray’s wild (fun) side, she could not deny her love for him. Reading like a picturesque romance story, she waited for Ray as he went off to fight in the Korean War. Upon his return, they courted for a time and were finally married June 25, 1956, at Immaculate Conception Church in St. Anna. They shared 67 years of marriage and were blessed with three daughters, three grandsons and five great-grandsons.
All her life Bernadette served her God, her vocation as a wife and mother and anyone else whom God placed in her path. As a wife and mother, her faith grew each day as she learned to make our savior the center of both her marriage and her family. Bernadette lived a life of service on the farm helping, and at times gently guiding, her husband, Ray, as they shared all the joys, sorrows, beauties and trials that accompany a family serving God on a farm. As the years passed, their bodies slowed, but their love grew to new heights. In the end, they were truly one. Starting in 1956, they spent each day showing their family and the world what a marriage can look like.
When not working diligently on the farm, she volunteered at the church, school, St. Benedict’s Monastery and Munsinger Gardens. She also was employed at the St. Cloud Hospital and the local Avon hotel to save money for her grandchildren’s future. Bernadette might be found dancing with her husband, leaping at the chance to travel and explore the world, baking, quilting, tending her garden, spending time enjoying her daughters, doting over her grandchildren or drinking a cup of morning coffee as she took in all of the beauty that her and her husband had created on the farm.
Perhaps one story best captures the influence Bernadette consistently projected into the lives that God placed in her path. After a visit with his grandchildren, her husband, Ray, could often be heard saying as a goodbye, “I hope you live forever, and I never die.” One day Bernadette asked one of her grandchildren, “Do you know what that means?” Puzzled, her grandson didn’t have much of an answer. In reply, she said, “Why heaven, of course. We will all live forever together in heaven.” Bernadette truly understood and sought to live out this idea. “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” (Leonn Bloy)
To carry on her memory are her daughters, Cynthia Neis of Sauk Rapids, Roberta (Mark) Anderson of Little Falls and Paula (David) Pintok-Mergen of Monticello; grandsons Ryan (Sarah) Mergen, Tyler (Deepa) Mergen and Andrew Mergen; five great-grandsons; sister Madonna Nentl; sister-in-law Marcella (Charles) Chichon and many nieces and nephews.
Bernadette was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Raymond, of 67 years, in 2023; her parents; two brothers Daniel and infant Joseph; and son-in-law Don Neis.
Our heartfelt gratitude to the many caregivers who enhanced a better quality of life for Bernadette.
May she be numbered among the saints and celebrate in eternal glory with her Savior, Jesus Christ.
Caring for Bernadette and her family was the LeMieur Funeral Home in Little Falls.
