Obituaries

Marlene was born in 1935, the daughter of the late Warner and Henrietta (Sersland) Gaffney of Calmar, Iowa. Marlene was a high school basketball star and prom queen of Calmar High School class of 1953. In 1954 she started working for American Airlines at Chicago Midway Airport where she met her now deceased husband, Raymond Berndl of Chicago. They moved to California and she worked as a lead freight agent at SFO where she served for the rest of her 40 year career. She is survived by her sister Beth Bigler of Volga, Iowa, her brother Bill Gaffney (Carol) of Surprise, Arizona, her son Michael Berndl (Mia) of Rocklin, CA, her grandchildren Austin and Ashley Berndl, and multiple nieces and nephews.

Marlene lived in Fremont for the last 29 years and was active in the Ardenwood Village HOA as the treasurer. She served as a Senior Commissioner with the Fremont Senior Citizen’s Commission. She was also a volunteer at Washington Hospital for over 10 years. She functioned as a council member at Christ the King Lutheran Church. She rarely missed watching a Giants baseball game. Marlene passed away from cancer on September 25th. Special thanks to those that worked with her through her lifetime and were friends of hers in the community. Also appreciated is to those who assisted with her care over the last several months at Washington Hospital and Windsor Park, including the Care2Care workers and American Health Hospice Care personnel. Those that knew Marlene knew her as a kind soul, yet was out-spoken about the importance of matters to her and those she helped and volunteered with.

A celebration of life will be held for family and friends on Sunday, October 4, 2015, at 2:00 p.m., at Christ the King Lutheran Church, 1301 Mowry Avenue, Fremont, CA 94536.