Bertha Katherine Hjertstedt

Bertha was born in Condon, Oregon on April 4, 1921 to William and Agnes Hake Grant. She was their fifth child.

Her early years were spent in Condon until the family moved west. Over the following years of Bertha’s childhood, they lived in the towns of Glenwood, Gales Creek, Cornelius and Forest Grove. Two more daughters were born to William and Agnes during that time.

As an adult, Bertha moved to Portland, Oregon. She lived there for a number of years before marrying Knut Hjertstedt when she was forty. Knut was a widower with thirteen grown children and Bertha became a welcome addition to their family.

When Knut died a few years later, she moved to Ontario, Oregon with her sister Grace, also a widow. Grace had a young daughter to raise and the two sisters decided it would be better for them both if they pooled their resources. They soon opened their home to their aging parents and moved in 1970 to Apple Valley, Idaho where Bertha worked at the Simplot and Ore Ida plants in the Caldwell area.

In 1978 they all moved to Payette, Idaho and then settled in New Plymouth, Idaho in 1980.

During the first few years in New Plymouth, her father and mother passed on. Bertha and her sister Grace had cared for their parents a total of sixteen years.

She lived in New Plymouth with her sister for the next thirty one years of her life and then moved to Emmett, Idaho, where she lived at Apple Valley Residence until her death.

Bertha was a woman with a strong faith in God, who lived daily as a shining example of kindness, compassion and generosity. She was beloved for her gentle nature and had a great many friends.

She was a wonderful listener and preferred to let others do the talking. She also loved children and was happiest when she was involved making dolls or scrapbooks for the children in her life. She loved poetry and had her own book of poems published in the 1970’s.

Bertha enthusiastically volunteered at the local nursing home well into her eighties and was always willing to help out anyone in need, no matter the circumstances. One of her most treasured activities was attending church, which she did faithfully for her entire life, including the morning of her last day on earth.

Bertha is survived by her older sister Grace Tilley of Emmett, Idaho, her younger sister Edith (Jim) Langberne, of Forest Grove, Oregon, her stepdaughter Bobbie Ward of San Diego, California, eight nephews and seven nieces, many great nephews and nieces and even a number of great, great nephews and nieces.

Bertha was preceded in death by her spouse, Knut Hjertstedt, her parents, William and Agnes, her older brother Franklin Grant, twelve of her thirteen stepchildren, one nephew and two nieces, her older sisters Leola Reynolds and Bessie Reynolds, and her younger sister Nellie Hunt.

Services will be held on Saturday, March 24, at 2:00 pm at Shaeffer Jenson Memory Chapel, 329 S. Plymouth Avenue in New Plymouth, Idaho.