Dec 15, 2020
GLADSTONE Bernadette “Buck” Verhamme, 95, passed away peacefully Friday, Dec. 11, at Lakeview Assisted Living in Gladstone due to COVID-related complications. Her family was by her side.
She was born March 3, 1925, in north Escanaba to Severin and Leona (Cretens) Buckland. She graduated from Escanaba High School in 1943. Her time as a cheerleader in high school would provide joy to many throughout her life, as she would burst into a cheer anytime, anywhere, up to just a few weeks ago.
After high school, during World War II, she moved to Milwaukee and worked in an ammunition plant. Just before the war she went on her first date with Eugene Verhamme. Their romance rekindled after the war, and he soon became the love of her life. They married Sept. 21, 1946, and were married for 59 years when he passed Oct. 10, 2005.