She was born November 20, 1924, in Florien, Louisiana to Floyd Jackson Arthur and Bessie Estelle Carter Arthur. She had three older brothers, Cecil Arthur, Noel Arthur and Norman Arthur whom she survived. She also had one sister Bertha Estelle who only survived five days. She was valedictorian of her high school and won a full scholarship to Louisiana State University but was unable to accept it. Years later she continued her education at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville.
During World War II, she worked for the company building submarines in Connecticut and was one of the few women allowed to go on the testing cruises.
July 6, 1946, in Florien, Louisiana she married Calvin Coolidge Thaxton. They had two children—Glenn C. Thaxton and Brenda Thaxton, each of whom survived her. Glenn married Simone Kennedy Thaxton, who survives Bernice. She had two grandchildren Lauren and Ariana Thaxton and one great-grandson Kennedy Ahern. Their marriage of 63 years ended when her husband died in 2009.
She and her husband moved to Beaumont, Texas, where she worked for the Beaumont Enterprise newspaper. After that, the family moved to Henderson, Carthage, then to the Dallas area, eventually settling in Garland. She worked at Texas Instruments. She moved to Montgomery County in 1971 and worked at the hospital. She was a yellow dog Democrat and a member of Calvary Baptist Church.
The funeral is going to be at the Cashner Funeral Home, 801 FM 3083 Road, Conroe, Texas 77303 Tuesday, November 22, 2022, at 10 AM. Monday night, November 21, 2022, there will be family visitation from four to five PM, and general visitation from five to seven PM at Cashner's.
