Dorothy E. Bergman Schraad 82, of Seneca, Kansas, died peacefully on Thursday, January 19, 2017 at Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca.

Dorothy was born in Baileyville on August 8, 1934 to Lawrence and Cornelia “Cora” Stallbaumer Hammes. She attended school there and graduated from Baileyville High School in 1952. After graduating high school, she attended business school in Omaha, Nebraska.

On April 27, 1957 she married Vern Edward Bergman in Livermore, California, where they lived until 1961. Then they farmed in Harrisonville, Missouri, for four years before they moved back to Seneca, where she and her husband owned and operated Bergman Ford Sales from 1965-1970. After moving to Topeka in 1970, Dorothy worked at Dale Sharp Inc. and Sharp-Honda for 25 years. They raised a family of four children and were married for 31 years before his death on October 16, 1988.

She married Francis Schraad on April 16, 1994 and returned to Seneca, where she worked for Haug Communications until she retired.

She battled kidney failure for 12 years and never complained. She was greatly loved and admired by her family for her perseverance, self-effacing humor, and abiding faith as she fought for years to remain with her family just a little bit longer.

Dorothy was a member of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca. She was a devoted wife and mother and an active member in the VFW Auxiliary in Seneca. She enjoyed sewing and often made clothes for her children, and even Halloween costumes for her grandchildren.

Besides her first husband, she was preceded in death by her brother, Donald Hammes on November 21, 1967.

She is survived by her husband Francis of Seneca; a son, Edward (Cheryl) of Topeka; daughters, Janet Bergman of Topeka, Judy (Joel) Warkentine of Topeka, and Lisa (Lawrence) Chase of Marietta, Georgia; six brothers, Alvin, Gerald, Galen, Kenneth and Leo, all of Seneca, and Larry of Topeka; four sisters, Cleta Mae Haverkamp and Jeanette Becker, both of Seneca, Bernice Heiman of Baileyville, and Mary Rose Feuerborn of Richmond; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She is also survived by five step-children, Mark (Kristin) of Evergreen, Colorado, Carol (David) of Grove, Oklahoma, Keith of Denver, Colorado, Diane (Greg) Mason of Raymore, Missouri and Daryl of Evergreen, Colorado; 12 step-grandchildren and four step-great-grandchildren.

Mass of a Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 AM on Monday, January 23, 2017 at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca. Burial will be held in the church cemetery. The rosary will be prayed at 2 & 7 PM on Sunday, January 22 at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca.

Memorials can be given to the American Kidney Foundation or the Veterans Wall in Seneca, and sent in care of the family.