Bertha Smith was born June 3, 1917 and began her life on a farm that bordered Walnut Creek, two miles north of Rockne, in Bastrop County, Texas. She grew up in a four room house that she shared with her parents, six sisters, and three brothers.
Bertha attended St. Elizabeth School, taught by the Divine Providence Sisters and Benedictine Sisters in Rockne. She had to walk four miles to school each day, carrying her in lunch in a molasses bucket. The school house was one room with four grades being taught and school work was done on a slate or Big Chief tablet (which cost five cents). When a trip was made to Austin, it took three days to travel in an iron wheel wagon pulled by mules. One day was spent traveling, another resting the mules in a lot on 6th street, and one day back. Occasionally her Dad loaded the wagon with food and fishing gear and the family headed for Cedar Creek or the Colorado River to spend the night and fish, which she enjoyed from an early age. Their entertainment was fishing, swimming in a creek, and walking in the woods looking for wild animals. Work consisted of feeding the animals, including hogs, chickens and turkeys; picking cotton; pulling corn, and many more chores on the farm. Water used in the home was pulled from a well with a bucket on a rope. Lights were oil lamps and cooking was done on a stove heated by wood. Transportation was by wagon pulled by two mules until 1928 when her father bought their first car, a really sporty vehicle they thought! Bertha said her childhood on the farm was a happy one.
As a young woman, she moved to Austin and her career consisted of homemaker, working at Merrit, Schaefer and Brown, Johnson’s Bakery, and then the City of Austin until her retirement in 1979. She married John Smith (who predeceased her in 1981) and they had three children, Douglas (now deceased), Patricia, and Dennis. After retirement, you rarely found her home because she was playing dominos and socializing with her many groups of friends. She also loved to travel and has been to every state in the United States except Hawaii. She is affectionately called “Granny” by many, she has seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren. She was also one of the first members of the newly established domino club at the Sundance, where she had lived in her last years. She has seen many changes in her lifetime and has opened many chapters, thoroughly enjoying each one.
Visitation will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 beginning at 5:00 PM, with Recitation of Holy Rosary to being at 7:00 PM, at Cook-Walden Funeral Home. Mass of Christian Burial to be held Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at 2:00 PM, at St. Louis King of France Catholic Church, with interment to immediately follow at Assumption Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Bertha’s name may be directed to The Sundance Memory Care Activities Program, in Care of Renate Weeden.
