Berniece C. Honn, 91, of Champaign died Tuesday (June 26, 2012) at Bickford Assisted Living of Champaign. She was born June 1, 1921 at Corridon, Missouri, the seventh of nine children of John Edward and Anna May (Sutterfield) Weems. She was an excellent student in a one-room schoolhouse, Dagonia, on Upper Logan Creek, Missouri, graduating from the eighth grade. During World War II, she relocated to St Louis and worked for a dry-cleaner, then as a bullet inspector for McQuay-Norris in an ammunition plant as well as a coil-winder for an engine maker as her Rosie part of the war effort. A regular at Bible-readings in St Louis in the early 40's, she caught the eye of and subsequently married a farmer from Illinois, Loren Daniel Honn, on October 28, 1944. They relocated to Chicago, where she worked for Collegiate Cap & Gown while he worked as a riveter for Douglas Aircraft. Their first daughter, Carolyn, and their son, Stan, were born while they lived in Kemp, Illinois. Their younger daughter, Sara, was born while they farmed south of Allenville, Illinois. Berniece worked at Collegiate Cap & Gown in Mattoon and Champaign, then shifted careers, becoming an educational assistant at Playtime Nursery, a coop pre-school on the U of I campus, where she worked until her retirement in about 1983. In 1971, she assembled a portfolio of her life experiences, applied for and passed the exam to earn her GED from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 36 years after graduating from 8th grade. She then continued to take education classes at Parkland Community College in Champaign. She was active all her life in the Church of Christ. She was baptized at the age of13 in Logan Creek near her home in Corridon, Missouri by a traveling Evangelist Bro Love. She was a member of Churches of Christ at Dewitt Avenue in Mattoon, Charleston, Westside in Champaign, Lincoln Avenue in Champaign, and then at Philo Road until the present. She was respected as a resourceful cook, master food preserver, skilled at many sewing-related crafts, and creator of a number of original projects given as gifts to family and friends. She was equally respected as a Mother and early childhood educator as well as acting as mentor 'Grandma' to many younger Mothers and their children. Her craft work included Christmas ornaments, Holiday mats, throw rugs, cross-stitched items, and pieced quilts. Working on quilt pieces while on family trips was a typical activity. Among her work, she created at least one hand-stitched quilt for each of her children and grandchildren. She is survived by her husband of nearly 68 years, Loren Honn, her daughters Carolyn (Rodger) Edwords of Mesquite, Texas and Sara Qualls of Colorado Springs, Colorado and her son Stan (Linda) Honn of Eugene, Oregon, as well as eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She is also survived by one brother, Fred (Lois) Weems of Arnold, Missouri, as well as a number of nieces, nephews, extended family and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, her sisters Aileen, Essie and Lucille, and her brothers Clyde, Hubert, Melvin and Bernell. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 PM Sunday July 1 at Renner-Wikoff Chapel, 1600 South Philo Road, Urbana. A celebration of her life will be at 10 AM Monday, July 2 at Philo Road Church of Christ, 2601 South Philo Road, Urbana with burial of her remains to follow at Arcola Cemetery. Memorial gifts may be made to Philo Road Church of Christ designated for Caring for Kenya, the Alzheimer's Association, or to the charity of choice in Berniece's name.