Life Goes On...

Aline, Ce and Bernie in Elaine's backyard.

Life went on as usual the next couple of years until April 1982 when Dorothy could no longer fight for her health, and succumbed to her illness. It was a difficult period for all of the Mayers. Bernie filled his time with his continued work at the Veterans' Hospital, and kept busy on this time off traveling and caring for his garden. He took trips to Portland, spent time with his daughters and grandchildren (including his newest granddaughter Katie (Lizzie) Weiland, enjoyed dinners with his niece Elaine, her husband Lee and his sister Aline, and frequently went to Napa to enjoy the company of Ce and Jim Cleveland. Sometimes he even found time to plan mini-vacations for the family to places like Blue Lake Springs or the Oregon coast.  Even though he was living alone, he made it clear that his house was still HOME for the entire family.

Bernie, the honoree at the 1990 Baseball Awards Dinner.

Bernie retired in the mid-1980's and expanded all of his previous "free-time" activities, despite a bout with prostate cancer. Nothing stopped him from his involvement in the lives of his daughters, grandchildren and friends. Jan, who was teaching school across the bay in Redwood City, would be delighted to come home and find a bag of fresh-grown produce from his garden waiting on her doorstep. Brayton Street neighbors also appreciated Bernie's generousity and unexpected gifts from his garden.

He hosted weekends with the Mayer girls who would journey home to Brayton Street for a "weekend with Bernie" full of laughter, remeniscing, and probably a trip to Caspers or Bancheros! The family gathered for other occasions as well such as birthdays and special occassions such as Jan's doctoral graduation from USF.

In May of 1990, Bernie was honored at the East Bay Baseball Banquet. He gave a speech full of cherished memories and received a placque in front of a large audience filled with friends and baseball players spanning many years of experience. Father Jack Connolly, who had played baseball with Bernie when there were children and can be spotted in Bernie's scrapbooks, was on hand to honor Bernie.

Bernie's family gathered to celebrate his 80th Birthday.

Everyone came together to celebrate Bernie's 80th birthday. Friends, family and neighbors paid him tribute and enjoyed the commemorative activities. His life story was chronicled and "published," and copies were distributed to everyone. It was a wonderful occasion that will always be remembered by those in attendance. It was happy celebration, and the last time that the entire family gathered as a whole group together with Bernie.

The handful of years that followed were difficult, but Bernie never lost his sense of humor or sweet disposition. Although his memories and abilities faded with dementia, everyone's love for him continued on through the remainder of his life.  Even though Bernie passed on from here to that baseball diamond in the sky in June of 1998, he will never be forgotten. We will all carry our love for him in our hearts throughout our lives, and pass his memories on to the next generation so that they can come to love him as well. And that is why we put together the 100YearDad project.