Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

There will be a celebration of Bernadette Maust's life Saturday March 14, at 1 p.m. at the Assembly of God Church. "She loved family, flowers, beautiful sunny days, long walks and beaches," husband Tim Maust said. The longtime Mary Kay consultant also enjoyed making other women feel pretty and cooked great spaghetti sauce.

"Bernadette's love language was food. She loved cooking for people. She loved nice things; she was beautiful, fashionable, fun and just a hoot," friend Kelleen Adams said.

Maust was 72 and died at home on Feb. 27 after an optimistic and stubborn two-year battle with cancer.

Friend Bonnie Hedrick said Maust's positive outlook became more accentuated in her last months of life. "After hearing from the doctors that her time with us might be limited, Bernadette had no patience at all for petty gripes, whining or complaining. Instead her strong faith and hope directed her daily interactions, and I think it helped those around her to also look upward and not down," Hedrick said.

Bernadette Del Balso was born in Gildone, Italy, south of Rome on Dec. 2, 1947 to Joseph and Filomena Del Balso. Her father worked in construction. The family moved to the United States when Maust was 11, and settled in Brooklyn. After finishing school, she lived in New York for about 15 years, enjoying city life, and was married and divorced. She moved to Citra, Florida in 1973. She attended Webster College and earned a degree in clerical sciences and worked in a local department of health and rehab services. In 1988 she joined the Mount Bether Bible Center, a remote Christian farm community at Game Creek on Chichagof Island and became a goat herder, which former resident Jane Mores said was one of the better assignments. "You would hike to the hills, take out a blanket and read a book all day," she said. Mores noted that the stylish East Coast transplant was well liked, and "did what she could with a long denim skirt," the defacto women's farm uniform. In 1989, Maust moved to the Covenant Life Center, a sister farm in Haines, where she met Tim Maust. The couple were wed there on April 29, 1991.

In Haines, she learned to ski, enjoyed her new family, and became a Mary Kay consultant. Most recently she was a flagger on the Haines Highway reconstruction project. She also liked to travel. Hedrick enjoyed hikes on the pass and skiing with Maust. "It surprised me at first how a woman who always looked so put together really enjoyed the sweat of a good workout while appreciating nature's beauty," she said. Maust swam regularly at the pool and worked out at Thor's gym. She was especially generous with her time, and treated friends and her beauty clients as family.

Adams met Maust through her Mary Kay business and later Maust worked with her at Lynn Canal Mercantile. "Bernadette was hilarious, such a dynamo, and we laughed a lot," Adams said. But what Adams admired most was Maust's strong Christian faith. "Every walk we went on, every fun adventure, that was her testimony to me. Bernadette was so faithful to God, all the time."

Bernadette Maust is survived by her husband Tim; stepchildren Cheryl Chenoweth of Juneau, Sherri Maust of Haines and Matt Boron of Haines; siblings Nick Del Balso and Mary Morana both of New York, and seven grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Filomena Del Balso.