Bernie Protasiewicz

Protasiewicz, Bernadine "Bernie" (Nee Kaminski). Entered Heaven on February 25, 2016 at the age of 76. Loving wife of Gerald "Jerry" Protasiewicz for 56 loving years. Beloved mother of Mike (Jan) Protasiewicz, Cheri (fianc April Sieracki) O'Neil. Cherished grandmother of Shane and Luke O'Neil. Sister in law of Elaine (the late Dennis) Bonin and Jackie (the late John) Gadowski. Preceded in death by her dear brother Jim (Lois) Kaminski. Further survived by nieces, nephews, other relatives and many loving friends. Bernie was a graduate of Pulaski High School. After high school she worked at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance before leaving the workforce to raise their two children. Bernie also volunteered as the CYO Advisor with Yvonne Noel at St. Sylvester Parish in South Milwaukee. She loved working with the youth of the parish. She soon took employment for a few years for the CYO office downtown for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Bernie enjoyed many things in life that she shared with Jerry, including raising their children, Scouts, taking them camping and traveling. Bernie and Jerry loved to take their mini road trips to many places. One of Bernie's passions was planting her flowers every spring and growing beautiful indoor plants and flowers, especially African Violets. A Memorial Gathering will be held at DIVINE MERCY CATHOLIC CHURCH (800 Marquette Ave., So. Milw.) on Tuesday, March 15 from 3-4:45PM followed by a Memorial Mass at 5PM. A special thank you to the ICU staff at St. Luke's for the compassionate care you gave to mom and her family. In lieu of flowers, memorials appreciated to the CLL Foundation-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (www.cllfoundation.org) or to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org). "Mom, you will always be loved, remembered and missed."