Mrs. Bertha Mary Nichols Blackwood

October 1, 1920 – November 28, 2020

Bertha Mary Nichols Blackwood, age 100, passed to her eternal Home on Saturday, November 28, 2020 at her residence in Jasper.

After graduating from high school in 1938, she continued her education at Freed-Hardeman College in Henderson, TN. She returned to Jasper after completing requirements for a secretarial certificate and worked in the office at E.R. Mattingly’s car dealership, and later worked as a secretary at the Pennington, Tweedy, & Beech law firm.

She married Rile Blackwood in 1946 and continued to work at the law firm until the couple opened Blackwood Insurance Agency in 1951. They retired from business in 1994.

Bertha Blackwood was a caregiver to many. In addition to being a wife and mother, she cared for her mother-in-law, Ida, her mother, Matilda, and her sister-in-law, Gladys. She was a dedicated caregiver to Rile for the last five years of his life and was lovingly cared for by her children for the last five years of her own life.

The Gus Nichols family moved from Millport, AL to Jasper when Bertha was twelve years old, when Mr. Nichols began preaching for the local Church of Christ. Bertha continued to worship with that congregation, which became the current Sixth Avenue congregation, for 88 years. She served the Lord’s church by teaching Bible classes, being involved in the Golden Group, and serving as a Christian example to all who knew her.

Bertha Blackwood was preceded in death by her parents, Gus and Matilda Nichols; her husband of 53 years, Rile Blackwood; sisters Gracie Young (Frank), Vodie Kerr (A.J.), and Carrie Hamilton (W.T); brothers Flavil Nichols (Mary), Foy Nichols, and Hudson Nichols; sisters-in-law Ezelle Sanders (Wilford), Gladys Baker (Dan), and Virginia Nichols.

She is survived by two children, Vicki Ann Blackwood and John Rile Blackwood, both of Huntsville, AL; one brother, Hardeman Nichols, of Dallas, TX; one sister-in-law Marilyn Nichols, of Owensboro, KY; six nieces and five nephews.

Visitation will be Saturday, December 5, at 11:00AM at the Sixth Avenue Church of Christ in Jasper, with a memorial service following at 1:00PM. Burial is at Oak Hill Cemetery. Levi Sides and Vance Hutton will officiate.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Indian Creek Youth Camp, 7855 Pleasantfield Road, Oakman, AL 35579; Childhaven, Inc., P.O. Box 2070, Cullman, AL 35056; Sisterhood of the Traveling Dishes Ladies' Ministry, Sixth Avenue Church of Christ, 1501 6th Avenue, Jasper, AL 35501; or G. Rile and Bertha Nichols Blackwood Endowed Academic Scholarship, Freed Hardeman University, 158 East Main Street, Henderson, TN 38340.