Bernice Smith Bridgman's Obituary
Bernice Smith Bridgman, born February 2, 1928 in Boswell, Arkansas, passed away February 4, 2009, in Memphis. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and teacher, as well as an energetic organizer and speaker. She was preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Lt. Col. Earl Nash Bridgman, Jr., in 2000, and leaves a beloved daughter, Stephanie Ann Bridgman; son, Gary Bridgman; daughter-in-law, Melissa Bridgman; and grandson, E. Nash Bridgman, 3d.Bernice attended grade school in Boswell and Calico Rock and was graduated from Ouachita Baptist College with a BA in English and speech. She attended graduate school at George Peabody College for Teachers and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.Bernice taught English, speech, theatre and elementary in Earle, Arkansas; Thomaston, Georgia; Wurzburg, Germany; Ft. Benning, Georgia; and Baltimore, Maryland. During the 1980s, she was a substitute teacher with the Briarcrest system in Memphis.While living in Thomaston, Georgia, she met her future husband, 1st Lt. Earl N. Bridgman, Jr. During her husband’s career in the U.S. Army, they lived in Georgia, Kansas, Germany, Virginia, Maryland, Turkey, Arkansas, and Tennessee. She was always so proud to stand at his side as his devoted wife.Following their assignment to the Defense Depot — Memphis in 1968, she joined the Military Officers’ Wives Club, which she eventually served as president four times. In 2008, the MOWC named her “honorary lifetime president” Other groups that she led or served include the old Bookmarkers (president), Rainbow Garden Club (president), Bond of Faith Chapter of Kings Daughters and Sons (leader), and Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities (docent), and the Order of the Eastern Star.She was a member Watauga Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (regent), Dames of the Court of Honor (president), and Colonial Dames of the Seventeenth Century (president), and Colonial Dames of America. She served the DAR on the state level as State Chairman of Good Citizens and Junior American Citizens.In all of these groups, she is widely remembered for “bringing down the house” with her humorous speeches and introductions, always loaded with puns and funny rhymes. A devoted Christian, Bernice served for 21 years as a teacher and director in the Children’s Sunday School at Bellevue Baptist Church.Visitation will be at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, from 2 to 4 p.m., Sunday, February 8th. Memorial services will be at noon on Monday, February 9th, at Bellevue Baptist Church. Graveside will be at Oaklawn Cemetery in Batesville, Arkansas, at noon on Tuesday, February 10th.She will always be missed and never forgotten.
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