Member History: Bernice Marsala

Bernice Marsala (nee Erdahl) has been a lifelong member of Grace Evangelical Lutheran church since the days it resided on 2 nd Avenue. She was born in Tucson on March 30, 1935 at St. Mary’s hospital. She was baptized, confirmed, and later married at Grace Lutheran Church by Pastor E. A. Sitz.

Her parents, Nick and Hilda Erdahl, moved to Tucson from the Midwest. Her mother Hilda went to Augustana Luther College in Wahoo, Nebraska and received her teaching certificate which she used at Grace’s newly formed parochial school on 2nd Avenue. Her father Nick worked as a glazier.

Bernice was an only child, growing up in Tucson on Waverly street. She walked everywhere she needed to go or rode the city bus. Her mother never got her driver’s license, which was common in those days. She remembers going across the desert to visit their neighbors, the Kessels and Becks, who were also members of Grace.

There was a single lady across the street from school who didn’t have an electric fridge so an ice truck delivered ice for her ice box once a week, much to the delight of children who harvested ice chips.

Bernice’s dad, who was born in North Dakota, was raised in Tucson by his uncle, Henry Jaastad. Henry was the architect who designed the current Grace-Tucson church. Bernice remembers her uncle Henry taking her places.

Bernice attended Grace Sunday School and then began teaching Sunday School when she was sixteen years old. She taught off and on for more than 60 years! She also taught summer VBS which was two or three weeks long at the time. Her mother, Hilda, also taught Sunday School and different grades at Redeemer Lutheran school. Many members of Grace had Hilda as a teacher.

Redeemer School was partly made possible by the women of Grace who wanted a Lutheran school for their children to attend. This was the beginning of the Christian Education group at Grace. They began raising funds by hosting a roast beef dinner annually which still continues today.

Redeemer began construction in 1947 at the Yavapai Street location and opened in 1948 near the present day Amphi High School.

Bernice attended University Heights Elementary School, then Mansfeld Junior High for seventh to ninth grades, and she graduated from Tucson High School in 1953. She continued her education at the University of Arizona. She graduated with distinction, and a B.A. degree in elementary education.

She began her student teaching at Helen Keeling elementary school where she taught for 3 years. She met her future husband, Tony Marsala, who was also a teacher there. They were married at Grace church in 1960.

Two sons, Paul and Joe, were born in 1961 and 1963 respectively, also at St. Mary’s in Tucson. She took time off from teaching until the boys were in school. She returned as a substitute teacher and eventually moved into a full-time position at TUSD where she remained for twenty years.

Bernice joined Grace choir. She remembers the choir room being on the south side of the church where the choir robes were hung. But the choir did not like singing in front of the church, so they sang from the especially constructed balcony and the choir robe room was moved to the basement. She helped with the youth group at Grace and remembers many outings where Pastor Sitz attended. He was always involved with the youth, playing games and swimming with them.

She was director of childcare for the YWCA for a few years. She needed some able body workers to tend to the children and, with Pastor Hallemeyer’s recommendation, hired Grace members Lois Thornton, Dorothy Lietha, and Marilyn Warskow.

She remembers the current Tucson church using 1 st Avenue for the front of the church, because at the time it was a main street. The church was mostly built by members of Grace as many of them were professionals in construction. Bonds were used to supply financial assistance to build the church.

Grace did not start as a WELS church, but it was the only Lutheran Church in town. When Pastor Sitz was called he belonged to the WELS synod so they joined the WELS synod.

Bernice used her gifts as a teacher to assist with the English as a Second Language Program at Grace and had a connection with many of the students. She has blessed our church with her smiles and helping hands and we thank her for using her gifts to touch many of the members of Grace.