Bernice Ann Mielke (Aguirre) crossed over into the kingdom of heaven on Saturday, August 15th 2020, at the home she shared with her loving and adoring husband in El Paso, TX. Mrs. Mielke was the wife of 65 years to COL (Ret) Karl A. Mielke, Jr. and was the matriarch of their large, military family.
Bernice is the daughter of Manuel and Clara Aguirre, of El Paso, TX; both of whom preceded her in death. Bernice was born in 1935, as the fourth child of the six Aguirre children, in El Paso, TX. It was here where she attended Austin High School, and later met her sweetheart, Karl.
Karl and Bernice married in 1955, and Karl commissioned as an officer in the Army, shortly thereafter. Karl and Bernice had a grand total of 12 children together, and Bernice somehow managed to not only help raise the children, but keep the home fires burning through Karl’s tours of duty in Korea and the Vietnam War. Through their many travels and family moves together (which included Colorado, New York, Hawaii, Illinois, and Saudi Arabia, just to name a few), Bernice was always the rock that kept the family strong. She was a wife, a mother, a teacher, a disciplinarian, a friend, and quite often, a “soft place to fall” for her children.
The importance of an education was not lost on Bernice, and after the children were all grown and moved out of the house, Bernice went back to school and finished her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Texas – El Paso in 2010. Together with her granddaughter, she became half of the first grandmother/granddaughter graduating duo in UTEP history!
Bernice loved God, she loved life, and she appreciated the joy it brings. She could find the beauty and the power of our Heavenly Father in everyday things, both great and small. To Bernice, every day was a gift from God, and she sought always to pass this belief on to her children.
Bernice had many hidden talents, which her husband Karl recalls with relish. She was a phenomenal cook, which served her well in her many years of feeding a large family on an Army budget. She also had an uncanny ear for music, and could pick out a song with two hands on the piano, after hearing it in a movie only once. The joy with which she flavored food and music for her children has served them their entire lives.
In their more than 65 years together, Karl and Bernice shared a love that many dream of, but few often find. It was a romance filled with love, happiness, laughter, children, and the smiles and tears that go along with all of them. Their love for each other was something for the history books, and will persist beyond this earthly existence. Karl and Bernice were in love since their beginning, and were in love at the moment of her passing.
Bernice was preceded in death by her son Michael; her parents- Manuel and Clara Aguirre; her brother Robert Aguirre; and her sister Marguerite Tinguely. She is survived by her husband Karl, her children: daughter Claire and husband Ben Aragon; daughter Stephanie and husband Manuel Limon; son Keith; daughter Kathleen and husband Robert Villalobos; daughter Jeanette; son Ryan; son Anthony; daughter Paula and husband Doug Youmans; daughter Yvonne and husband Brian Houghton; son Christopher and wife Patricia; and son David and his fiancée Michelle. She is also survived by her brothers Jack and David Aguirre, as well as her sister, Gloria Ikard. Bernice and Karl also have 26 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.
Bernice is a woman who will be greatly missed, but her family knows she will always be with them; smiling, dancing, singing, and showering her love on them from above.
Visitation will be held from 5:00-9:00pm Thursday, August 20, with Rosary at 7:00pm, at Funeraria Del Angel Central, 3839 Montana Avenue. Graveside service will be 2:00pm Friday, August 21, at Ft. Bliss National Cemetery, 5200 Fred Wilson Avenue.
