Obituary for Bernetta Mooney (née Walsh) at Caul's Funeral Home (2024)

The world is darker today – a ray of sunshine has been extinguished.

It shone first on her family from the time she was a child to the present day, on the students she mentored in her long teaching career, most especially “sus hombres en Monsefú, Perú” and on her young charges in Mary Queen of Peace School, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, at St. John Bosco School in Shea Heights, St. John’s, on her sisters in the Mercy Congregation, and on the unworthy man she met while Newfoundland teachers were on strike in 1983.

As was common at the time, she was born into a large family on Bell Island, being the 3rd of nine who survived into adulthood. Her parents were Clara Walsh (née Roberts) and Richard Walsh. Her older siblings were Frank (deceased) and Mary, and she was followed by Rich (deceased), Ed, George, Pat, Betty (deceased) and Brian. Her family suffered the loss of 5 other children at a young age, although Bernetta only remembered one of them.

She was a small child, almost doll-like, much-favoured by her mother and father. She started school late (maybe because her mother thought she was too small to enter the rough-and-tumble of life in a large school). She progressed through the trials (unknown today) of public exams under the strict guidance of the Sisters of Mercy until she became, first, a teacher (in her first year she taught a class of 52 grade one students – in the days before kindergarten) and then followed the example of her school mentors and joined the Sisters of Mercy herself.

She spent 16 years in the Mercy Congregation working as a teacher and attending university. The highlight of her career to that point was the six and a half years she spent as a teacher in a school founded by the Mercy Congregation in Monsefú in the north of Perú in 1961, where she took on a class of 5-year old boys, who considered her to be an “angel from heaven” with blue eyes and wearing a white, ankle-length habit – and her mezzo-soprano voice was very much that of an angel. She remained their teacher until she departed in 1968. A special bond was created with these boys (and some girls) that has lasted until the present day.

Ultimately, the religious life ceased to be her forte, but teaching continued to be her passion. For the next 19 years she mentored boys and girls, mostly in Grade 8. Her spritely and dynamic character allowed her to develop once again a similar relationship to that with the Peruvian children. It was not quite as intense because the children moved on to another grade in the following year. Maybe an expression uttered by a boy in St. John Bosco School gives some flavour to the latter years of her career: “She’s small, but she’s mighty!”

She made Patrick a very happy man when she married him 40 years ago – she was a loving wife and supporter and was happy to follow him when career changes and relocation uprooted any prospect of a settled existence. Her already large family became even larger with the arrival of in-laws and a total of 25 nieces and nephews. Her marriage to Patrick was not blessed with children but she became a very special aunt and great-aunt to those nephews and nieces she got to know. Unfortunately, distance meant that not all of these families became familiar to her. It may not be appropriate to single out one person, but Bernetta dearly loved one very special niece, Susan Watson (née Kent) – a love that has been returned a thousand-fold. She was able to spend many winters visiting Susan in Australia, where she also became the very special great-aunt of two beautiful girls. They appreciated her wicked sense of humour and provided her with great joy when they celebrated her 90th birthday in January, before her declining health robbed us all of her sparkle, joy, fun, and love.

Special mention must also be made of her cousin, Sister Loretta Walsh, whose love, devotion, and nursing sustained Bernetta (and Patrick) on her final journey. Thank you.

Cremation has already occurred. Visitation will take place at Caul’s Funeral Home on Tuesday, May 14, 2024 from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Her funeral mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 15, 2024 at St. Teresa’s Church, Mundy Pond Road at 11:00 am. Mass will be followed by inurnment at the Anglican Cemetery, Forest Road.

Reception to follow at the 150 RCAF Wing at 565 Roosevelt Avenue, St. John’s, A1A 5B2.

The funeral service will be Livestreamed and accessible via: https://tom0349.wixsite.com/streamingservices/cauls

No flowers by request. Donations may be made in Bernetta’s memory to the Misericordia Mission Fund, which supports the work of the Mercy Sisters in Perú or a charity of one’s choice.

Bernetta’s voice has been extinguished but it will live on in the hearts of many.

May she rest in peace.