Bertharine Castille

She was born on Christmas Day (December 25), 1931, in Beaumont, Texas, the first child of Lawrence Stewart, Sr., and Lorene Stewart. Lawrence was part of Bertharine’s life until he and Lorene got divorced when Bertharine was 3. When she was 6, Lorene married Bertharine’s stepfather, Edward Moultrie, and they had 2 daughters together, Mary Elizabeth and Sandra, joining Bertharine and her younger brother, Lawrence, Jr.

Bertharine was very smart, and she was a good student at Blessed Sacrament School, where she attended until she graduated from Blessed Sacrament High School in 1951. While attending Blessed Sacrament, she got her first job at RAO’s Bakery. She then went on to work at Texas Laundry right after graduating from Blessed Sacrament.

Also, in her senior year of high school, she met the love of her life, Jonah Castille. For the both of them, it was love at first sight. They married on December 23, 1952, and would remain truly in love for 61 years.

After they got married, they decided to start a new life in a new state. So, they boarded the fabled Sunset Limited train, which took them to Los Angeles, California. While they were there, they started their new life as husband and wife. Jonah worked as a supervisor in a string of factories, and Bertharine worked as a package wrapper at Stewart F. Cooper, not too far from where they first lived. They also started their own family, with a son, Charles, and a daughter, Joan.

Bertharine emphasized education to her children, and always wanted to be a schoolteacher, and, in wanting to be a schoolteacher, she tutored her son and daughter after school, making sure that neither the television set, nor the phonograph, was turned on, until after homework was done. As a result, her son graduated from his alma mater, George Washington High School, went to Los Angeles Southwest College, and enlisted in the United States Air Force, and her daughter became a member and, in her senior year, president of the National Honor Society at her alma mater, the old Saint Michael’s High School, and would end up becoming a writer of numerous books, scripts, and songs.

Imagine how many kids Bertharine could have taught if she had become the teacher she always wanted to be.

Not only was Bertharine smart, she was also deeply religious, reading her Bible every day and watching her favorite televangelists every Sunday. She found comfort in God and Jesus to get her through the death of the love of her life, Jonah, in 2014.

On September 23, 2020, she finally joined her husband in the Heaven she so fervently believed in. Also welcoming her home is her mother, Lorene, her father, Lawrence, Sr., her stepfather, Edward Moultrie, her brother, Lawrence, Jr. (Buddy), her half sister, Sandra, her mother-in-law, Lydia Fontenot, her sister-in-law, Rhoda, her brother-in-law, Joshua, and her beloved miniature poodle, Cinque.

She is survived by her sister, Mary Elizabeth Visor; son, Charles Castille (Juanita); daughter, Joan Castille; grandson, Diallo Castille (Trish); granddaughters, Rosheda Castille, Nikia Cole-Harris (Arthur), and Nexxus Cole; great grandchildren, Isis Castille, Uriah Castille, Elisha Duplechan, Isaiah Duplechan, Tatiana Harris, Kiara Harris, Ariana Harris, Rylee Woodruff; and a host of family and friends. May she rest in peace and power, and, as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper would say, “May her memory be a blessing” to all who knew her.