Rearing a family while climbing the corporate ladder didn't slow Bonnie Berns, a Carmichael resident who gave to the community for more than 50 years.
She drove senior citizens to appointments, taught Sunday school and volunteered for Brownies, Little League and the PTA. She worked 35 years in banking, starting as a part-time teller and retiring in 1992 as an assistant vice president at Wells Fargo.
She served four terms as Carmichael Chamber of Commerce president and was named the first woman honorary mayor in 1982. She organized sheriff's volunteers, spoke at community meetings and served on the Carmichael Recreation and Park District board.
"I asked her once why she was so involved, and she said, 'I don't want to miss anything. There's so much to do,' " chamber Executive Director Jan Bass Otto said. "She was someone who definitely lived life to the fullest."
Mrs. Berns died of pancreatic cancer Saturday in her Carmichael home, said her daughter Traci White. She was 75.
Widely known as "Mrs. Carmichael" for her dynamic personality and activism, she served as a community ambassador, attending public events and encouraging residents to get involved in business and civic activities.
The Carmichael Elks Lodge named her 2005 Citizen of the Year. The Chamber of Commerce honored her as Businessperson of the Year in 1990 and Woman of the Year in 2006.
"She was part of the glue that holds Carmichael together and shapes its personality," Sacramento County Supervisor Susan Peters said. "Everyone knew Bonnie, and she knew everyone."
Mrs. Berns got her first lessons in business and helping others as a girl working in her family's market in Glidden, Iowa. She was born Bonnie Louise Prill in 1932 to grocers whose mom-and-pop operation grew to three stores. Their customers were also their neighbors, who struggled to make ends meet during the Great Depression and World War II.
"Sometimes they just gave stuff to customers who couldn't afford to pay," said her daughter Teresa Lingberg. "It was important not just to provide something for the community, but help individual people."
She left Iowa State Teachers College to marry Ivan Hebbel Berns, an Air Force staff sergeant, in 1952. They settled in Carmichael, where Mrs. Berns reared four children with her husband, who died in 1983.
Mrs. Berns enjoyed painting, sewing and cooking. After retiring from banking, she started a financial management business and helped many friends with retirement planning.
She loved entertaining at home, throwing Super Bowl parties and meeting people at business and community events. An outgoing woman with a quick sense of humor and a glamorous sense of style, she dressed to impress in fashionable clothes, flawless makeup and lots of jewelry.
"She was colorful, warm and full of surprises," White said. "She was a firecracker."
Call The Bee's Robert D. Dávila, (916) 321-1077.
