Beata Hinterberger

She was born May 24, 1925 in Addison, Illinois, to Oscar and Minnie Buerger. The family moved to Chicago where she graduated from Luther North High School. She received a BS in chemistry from Valparaiso University. In 1950 she married the love of her life, the late Henry Hinterberger, and they lived in the Chicago area before relocating to Texas in 1986.

Bea was an active member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Conroe. Together with her husband, she was an avid bridge player and golfer at Panorama Country Club. They also loved to travel. Most of all, Bea was a dedicated homemaker and devoted mother.

Bea and Hank are survived by their three sons: David, of Conroe; Stephen Hinterberger and his wife Jo Ann Cameron, of Urbana, Illinois; and Timothy Hinterberger and his wife Kathleen, of Anchorage, Alaska. A viewing will be held at Cashner Funeral Home on Monday, June 28, 2010 from 5 to 8 PM. The funeral will be at 10 AM on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at Cashner with burial in Garden Park Cemetery.

The family wishes to thank all those who helped care for her during her last years, especially including the staff of Above and Beyond in Conroe.

This is the end of the obituary published in the Conroe Courier. More information below.

By Steve Hinterberger

I suppose that everyone reading this already knew my mother, either as Aunt Bea or as a friend and neighbor in Panorama Village. I will just focus on the last year of her life.

Her serious health problems began in Nov. 2008. She was rather suddenly stricken with paralysis of her lower body. She went to see her doctor about the difficulty she was having walking. The doc scheduled her for a CAT scan the next day. A neighbor gave her a ride to the hospital for the scan. By that time, the problem had worsened to the point that she was admitted to the hospital. She never went back to her home.

The diagnosis was transverse myelitis. That means a blockage of nerve signals in the spine. Its cause is rather mysterious (to me anyway), but it is considered to be an autoimmune condition. She went from acute care hospital to rehab hospital. In April 2009, she went to live in a group home in Conroe TX, where she could receive continuous nursing care. Her condition improved moderately throughout 2009, so that she was able to get around the house with a walker.

There was a major change in my life in 2009, as well. I took an early retirement offer from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. In October, I moved into the home of my (very) long-time girlfriend Jo Ann, in Urbana, IL. Shortly after I had moved to Urbana, my brother Tim (and wife Kathy) visited me and Jo Ann. They had just come from visiting Mom in Texas, and proposed that she move to Urbana to be closer to me. Jo Ann strongly supported the idea, so we found an assisted living apartment near our home. We brought her to Illinois in December.

When she moved here, she was quite weak and wheelchair-bound. A hospitalization in Texas in the late autumn for an infection had set back her health status again. In the next few months, she improved significantly.

I am happy that I was able to see my Mom during the last six months of her life. For many years prior to that I had seen her mainly at Christmastime, because we lived so far apart. In January my Mom got to watch me exchange wedding vows with Jo Ann - an event they both had waited for quite a long time.

Jo Ann was with me every step of the way, from going to Texas to bring my Mom back to Illinois, to furnishing her apartment, to taking her to doctor visits, and doing anything else which needed doing. There were many times Jo Ann made dinner which we took over to Mom's place. Other times we went out to restaurants. Jo Ann treated my Mom with the same kindness and attention which she had given her own mother.

In late April my Mom became ill, and at the beginning of May the nurses at her facility sent her to the hospital. The doctors and nurses at Carle Hospital thought that with a round of antibiotics to cure her bladder infection she would be going home soon, but it was not to be. She soon lost the ability to swallow. The doctors tried a feeding tube, but it just didn't work for her. In the end, she basically suffered a systemic failure of her digestive tract. She died in her apartment in the early morning of June 23.

My brothers Dave and Tim also survived our Mother. Dave (email = [email protected]) is living in the Autumnwood Apartments in Conroe, TX. Tim (email = [email protected]) is living with his wife Kathy in Anchorage, AK.

My email is [email protected]. You can write to me at 305 W. Vermont, Urbana, IL 61801.