Carol Ann Bernau age 77 of Bloomfield, Wisconsin passed away peacefully at home on Monday, March 17, 2025 – St. Patrick's Day.

Carol was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 6, 1947. The daughter of the late Charles and Rose (Piszczek) Loose. She spent her childhood on the northwest side of Chicago and enjoyed summers with family outside the city. Carol graduated from Taft High School in 1965.

As a young single woman in the city, Carol lived in the Chicago Girls Club and told stories of hanging out in the loop in her bare feet making fun of the tourists. One of her first jobs was decorating windows at Carson Pirie Scott & Co. in downtown Chicago. She worked at Michael Reece Hospital in the Bronzeville neighborhood taking care of incoming patients' property. Carol was an exceptionally talented artist with an eye for fashion and beauty – her specialty was portraits. One of her best stories was when she met the Beatles at a Chicago radio station; she brought her hand-drawn portraits to be signed – they were so impressed they offered to have her draw an album, but her mom said, 'No!'

Carol married the love of her life, Edward Robert Bernau (whom she had known on and off for almost 10 years!) on March 27, 1976, and was a devoted wife, loving mother, and doting Grandma "B".

Carol's hobbies included drawing and gardening. She loved antiquing with Ed and looking for 'finds' to bring home and refinish. She was a talented cook and enjoyed making her family their favorite meals and sharing meals and goodies with friends. She would sew one of a kind, home-made Halloween costumes and let her twin girls dress as gypsies in her own mother's collection of scarves. She was known as Mrs. "B" to all the neighborhood kids and would host huge slumber parties for her girl's birthdays and camp or sell cookies with them as their Brownie Leader and Girl Scout Leader.

In 1987 Carol and her family moved to Crystal Lake, Illinois – where Mr. and Mrs. "B's" new home continued to be a hub for their teen girls. There she started her career as a cafeteria lunchroom lady – and worked her way to manager at North Junior High. She took great pride in making the meals taste homemade.

In 2013, now retired Carol and Ed moved to Bloomfield, Wisconsin to be closer to their daughter Lisa and their grandchildren. They loved their new ranch and living in the "country."

Carol is survived by her husband Edward; loving mother to twin girls Lisa (Greg) Hasse and Jennifer Bernau (John Treptow). Stepmother to Richard Herr. Grandmother to Anthony (Amanda) Hasse, Angel (Peter) Boas, Alicia Hasse, Keegan Hasse, Braeden Hasse, Valerie (Dave) Korstanje and Meggan Herr (Kyle Schneider). Great Grandmother to Evelyn, Lydia, Eliza, Alyssa, Josephine and Gavin.

The Bernau/Hasse family is blessed and forever thankful for the caregivers from Cardinal Care Services and the team at Aurora Hospice for their guidance, comfort, and exceptional care. Donations in the name of Carol Bernau may be given to Lakeland Animal Shelter in Elkhorn or Autism Speaks.

A visitation will be held on Friday, March 28, 2025, from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM at the Haase-Lockwood & Associates Funeral Home, 113 Freeman St. in Genoa City, Wisconsin. Burial will follow in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The Haase-Lockwood & Associates Funeral Home of Genoa City, Wisconsin is honored to serve the Bernau family.

Lakeland Animal Shelter
PO Box 1000, Elkhorn WI 53121
Tel: 1-262-723-1000
Web: https://lakelandanimalshelter.org/donate/

Autism Speaks
3500 W. Peterson Ave. Suite 204, Chicago IL 60659