Bernadine "Berni" A. (Stanslaski) Vilina

Bernadine "Berni" Vilina, age 95 of Villard died Sunday, June 1, 2025 surrounded by her family at the Glacial Ridge Hospital in Glenwood. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 5th at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Villard with Father Joe Vandeberg officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in the Calvary Cemetery in Villard. Arrangements are with the Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home in Glenwood.

Bernadine Anne Vilina was born on November 13, 1929 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Henry and Freda Stanslaski. Berni was their second child, with an older sister (by adoption) and a younger brother. She was an energetic girl who loved to read and play with her cousins, who all lived near her in New Brighton. Berni graduated from White Bear Lake High School in 1947, and went on to begin nurses training at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul.  She met Charles Vilina, also from New Brighton, who served in the Army in Europe in the Second World War. They fell in love and were married on September 10, 1949.

In 1962, Berni and Charles moved their family of six children from New Brighton to Villard, Minnesota, where Charles began his lifelong dream of farming. While Charles farmed and their children attended school, Berni was employed as a social worker for West Central Community Action for almost twenty years, helping local residents with fuel assistance and other needs.

Berni was known throughout the Villard community as a dear friend and a strong woman of faith. When Charles passed away in 2003, she continued to live alone on the family farm for the next 22 years, renting the land and caring for the homestead. During that time, she was active as a Befriender and a member of Hospice, where she would visit the sick and elderly in their final weeks of life, offering them friendship and hope. In addition to weekly visits by her children and their families, many neighbors would visit Berni to share their stories as well as their garden produce. She always felt blessed to live on a farm with such a supportive community of friends and neighbors, who were always there to help her if she needed them.

Berni loved baking, and was baking cookies just weeks before she passed away. She also loved cooking and gardening, and would read up to one novel a week. She gave generously to many charities, and prayed throughout her day for her family, friends, and those in need.

Berni is survived by five children, Judy (Mike) Hart of Duluth, Joan (Spencer) Hill of Onamia, Charles (Kathy) Vilina of St. Cloud, Anne Volkmann of La crosse WI, Tresi (Brian) Walker of Glenwood, 15 grandchildren, and 34 great-grandchildren, all who she held close to her heart.

She was preceded in death by her husband Charles, her daughter Lynn, and her grandson Shane, who she is now with in Heaven.

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