Bernadette "Bernie" Cecilia Berent Obituary (1944

Bernadette Cecilia Berent, "Bernie", 77, a longtime resident of the Hillsboro community, passed away on April 6, 2022 at her home with family by her side. Bernie was born on June 26, 1944 in Chicago, IL. She was the elder of two children born to John J. and Cecilia M. (Macdonald) Collopy. She was raised and received her education in Chicago. She attended Academy of Our Lady High School graduating with the Class of 1962. While in school, Bernie helped with the care of her grandparents before and after school. Bernie knew her future husband, Dennis L. Berent, "Denny", since she was a little girl. Her mother and Denny's mother were friends, which made for social visits when they were young. Following high school Bernie and Denny started dating. They married on June 19, 1965 in Chicago, IL. They followed Denny's career as an engineer and had moved to several states including in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. In 1974 the family returned to Chicago only to move again to Aloha, Oregon in 1980.The family has resided in the Hillsboro area ever since. Bernie and Denny had six children together; Denise, Michael, Bart, Mark, Robert (Bobby), and Lori. Bernie was a loving and devoted mother to her children. She loved Sunday family dinners and being a part of everything that her children were involved with. She was very social and loved to entertain. She was her children's # 1 sports fan, all her children were active in baseball and softball. She was the "team mom", which gave her many duties including: team bus driver, assistant coach, first aid nurse, and cheerleader. She was a mother to all of her children's friends and when she cooked, she always cooked to "feed an army", as quite often there were a few extra kids at the table. Bernie was an accomplished artist and used many mediums to display her talent including oil paints, clay sculpting, colored pencil drawings and charcoal sketching. She also had a passion for writing, she wrote many beautiful and meaningful poems. Her artwork and writings are treasured not only by her family but by her many friends as well. Bernie loved listening to music. Some of her favorite musical artists included; Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, IL Divo, Josh Groban, and Pavarotti just to name a few. She was quite the karaoke singer. Bernie is preceded in death by her loving husband, Dennis, and her parents. She is survived by her six children and their spouses; Denise and Patrick Hess of Forest Grove, Mike and Kara Berent of Tigard, Bart Berent of Beaverton, Mark and Heather Berent of Beaverton, Bobby and Annette Berent of Beaverton, Lori and Mark Carrick of Beaverton, her brother; Thomas Collopy of Forest Grove, and six grandchildren; Nicholas, Mackenzie, Haley, Paisley, London, and Jacoby.