Dorothy I. Bertels' Obituary
Dorothy Bertels was born one of thirteen children to Grace Smith and Adolphus Ollie Smith on Abraham Lincoln's birthday in 1927; a portent of things to come. Dorothy was the middle of the group of thirteen; number seven and in many ways lived up to the ancient legends of number seven. She was beautiful, spirited, kind and tough; a spitfire may be one way of describing her. She was a tomboy who never cowered from anyone and as any one who has been the middle child you know what it is like. Except in her case she was the middle child by a factor of six in each direction. Dorothy was my mother and even though we did not see eye to eye on politics she never violated her principles to appease me or anyone else. Dorothy's brothers and sisters made a large impression on her life and shaped how she conducted herself for the rest of her life. Dorothy is survived by three children; Paul, Douglas and Robert and nine grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. My mother was an exceptional person in every way and spent the last 29 years as a widow from her husband Paul. Dorothy passed on March 21, 2018 and her family will celebrate her life with a visitation on Sunday the 25th at 2 PM - 4PM and services on Monday the 26th at 1 PM.
What’s your fondest memory of Dorothy?
What’s a lesson you learned from Dorothy?
Share a story where Dorothy's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Dorothy you’ll never forget.
How did Dorothy make you smile?
