Obituary of Bernice Dinner

Marie Bernice Myers Dinner was born in Bolton (Manchester) England on March 3, 1947 to Philip and Sarah Myers. Bernice was one of four daughters. At an early age, her family moved to Sydney, Australia where her aunts and uncles had previously emigrated. In 1958, the Myers family moved to Albuquerque, NM. In 1965, Bernice enrolled at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was there that she met her future husband Bruce Dinner from Denver, CO while they were students. Bernice and Bruce were married in June of 1967 in Albuquerque. They have been married 53 years and have two children, Alec (Inbal Etgar) Dinner and Tara (Larry) Kaplan. She leaves four grandchildren; Miles Dinner and Teva, Raya, and Jonah Kaplan. Bernice is survived by her sisters Heather (Steven) Bossin and Stephanie (the late Morris) Schur. She was preceded in death by her sister Rosalia (Stanley) Feinstein. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. In 1970 Bernice and Bruce returned to the Denver area where Bruce was an orthodontist for thirty years and together they raised a family. Bernice earned a BA and MA from the University of Denver. In 1981 she received a Ph.D in Communication Disorders from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO. Professionally, Bernice worked as an audiologist at National Jewish Health and Rose Medical Center. Then, in 1990, she founded the National non-profit organization Hear Now which provided thousands of hearing aids and cochlear implants to those who could not afford them. The organization continues to this day as the So The World May Hear Foundation in Minneapolis, MN. Bernice was also President of Health and Medical Research Charities of America whose membership included multiple health related organizations. While living in Denver, Bernice was the President of the Beth Joseph Congregation and active in many Jewish communal organizations including the Jewish Family Service, Hadassah, National Council of Jewish Women and others. She was also President of Jewish Charities of America, an umbrella organization of national Jewish Charities. From 2003-2010 Bernice and Bruce lived in Franconia, NH where they could be close to their daughter Tara and enjoy their grandchildren’s formative years. During this same period Bernice worked at the Littleton (NH) Regional Hospital and was President of the Bethlehem Hebrew Congregation. Bernice and Bruce enjoyed traveling and visited Australia to be with her family there. They traveled to many other countries as well and were most recently in South Africa. While much of Bernice’s professional life was dedicated to helping those with developmental and other disabilities, her greatest joy was found in the achievements of her children and grandchildren and traveling with them throughout the world. Contributions may be made to ARC, Denver Rescue Mission, Shalom Park or the charity of your choice. There will be a private funeral service due to the pandemic and a memorial service in the future.