Veronica “Verne” Goeppinger, passed away January 13, 2023, in a Bismarck care center. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Thursday, January 19, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at Church of Corpus Christi. A Rosary service will begin at 9:15 a.m. at the church. The service will be livestreamed on the Church of Corpus Christi website.
Veronica (Verne) Goeppinger was born May 12, 1920, in Flasher, ND to Mike and Rosa (Schmidt) Gustin. Verne started her working career at a young age, becoming a Nanny to various Aunts and Uncles while she attended school in Flasher. After completing 8 th Grade and a few more nanny jobs, Verne moved to Bismarck and tried her hand at being a waitress. She was working as a waitress at the Grand Pacific Hotel when Pearl Harbor was bombed Dec of 1941 and she was recruited to work for Boeing Aircraft. Verne worked for Boeing from 1942-1943 starting out as a ‘Rosy the Riveter’ working her way up the chain into various other jobs, including an Admin. Assistant.
In 1946, Verne took a different turn in her career and became a Telephone Operator for Bell Telephone working in CA. An Operator at that time was still a fairly new concept, but Verne again worked her way up the chain and achieved the status of Manager/Supervisor over the course of the 30 years she worked for Bell. She retired from Bell Telephone in February 1975. Throughout her working career, Vernes’ objective was always to learn as much as she could and strive to be the best she could as she moved through the ranks of her jobs.
While working for Bell, she met and married William (Bill) Goeppinger in 1963. After Verne retired in 1975, she and Bill tended to their vegetable garden, fruit trees, and beautiful roses in their yard. Verne was known to always have fresh produce and preserves with them when they came back to ND to visit family. Verne and Bill enjoyed traveling throughout the US, parts of Canada, and even went to Europe. They moved back to ND from CA in October 2003. Bill passed away January 2005.
Verne is survived by 2 remaining sisters, Alice Ternes and Joan Eckroth (Bismarck); 1 brother Hugo (Martha) Gustin (CA); Sister-In-Laws Shirley Gustin (Bismarck) and Linda Gustin (TX) and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, her parents, her mother and father in-law; 5 brothers and 2 sisters-in-law; 6 sisters and 8 brothers-in-law.
In lieu of flowers or gifts, please make a donation to a charity of your choice.