Bertha Cummins Dresden

Bertha Cummins Dresden, 86, passed away early Friday, September 9, with her characteristic style, strength and calm. She is survived by her sister, Vida Stanton of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, her daughter and son-in-law, Janna Dresden and Ron Cervero of Athens, GA, her daughter Danielle Dresden and her partner Donna Peckett, of Madison, Wisconsin, stepsons Ben Dresden and wife Ann Swanson, Bram Dresden and wife Bev Dresden, all of Marin County, California; grandchildren Francesca Cervero, Mark Cervero, Greg Dresden, Matthew Dresden, Brett Dresden, Alison Richter, Trina Dresden, Leslie Pullen, Tania Davies and 17 great-grandchildren.

Bertha was born October 22, 1924 in the small town of Holyrood, Kansas, and grew up there during the depths of the Depression and the Dust Bowl. Thanks to a scholarship, she attended the University of Kansas at Lawrence, which opened the world to her. During summers, she worked at the Smoky Hill Army Airfield in Kansas, supporting the WWII war effort. Bertha lived in Watkins Scholarship Hall at KU and remained a committed Jayhawk throughout her life.

After graduating from KU, she taught school in Olathe, Kansas, for one year and entered graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She returned to Lawrence with a Masters Degree to teach in KU’s Department of Mathematics.

In 1947, at a joint physics-math colloquium, she met Max Dresden, married him in 1948, and lived and travelled happily with Max all over the world until his death in 1997. In addition to living in Kansas, Maryland, Illinois, Iowa and many trips and extended stays elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad, they lived in Stony Brook, New York, where Max was a professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and founder and executive director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics, from 1964 to 1989, and Palo Alto, California, where Max was an emeritus professor at the Stanford Linear Accelerator and taught History of Science at Stanford University, from 1989 to 1997. They had two children, Janna and Danielle.

Bertha moved to Athens, Georgia, in 1997 and lived with Janna, Ron and their children for 10 years, prior to moving to Talmadge Terrace, where she lived for two years. She was a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, an avid participant in Osher Lifelong Learning Institute classes and an active supporter of area arts and culture.

With a razor-sharp mind and a spot on sense of style, her quiet passions were family, friends, good conversation, progressive politics, books, travel, Kansas and the color green. She loved learning, fair play and experiencing the world. We will miss her heart, soul, spirit, intelligence and strength with all our being.

A visitation will be held from 5- 7 pm, Saturday, September 10, at Bernstein Funeral Home, 3195 Atlanta Highway, Athens.

The funeral service will be held at 1pm, Sunday, September 11, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 800 West Lake Drive, Athens.

Her ashes will be interred in Holyrood, Kansas, at a later service.

Contributions can be made to: the Foundation for Excellence, Clarke County School District, Office of Public Relations and Communications, 240 Mitchell Bridge Road, Athens, Georgia 30606; or the KU Endowment, P.O. Box 928, Lawrence, KS 66044 (please list “In Memory of Bertha Dresden-Watkins Scholarship Hall” on any checks or donations).

Online condolences may be offered at www.bernsteinfuneralhome.com

Bernstein Funeral Home and Cremation Service is in charge of arrangements.