Bertha A. West

Sibley, IA Bertha Mae West age 93 formerly of Sibley, IA, of Estes Park, CO died Saturday, December 20, 2014 at St. Anthony's Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado. Funeral service will be 1:00 p.m. Sunday, December 28th at the Jurrens Funeral Home of Sibley, IA, with Pastor Brian Schafer officiating. Burial will follow in the Holman Township Cemetery in Sibley. Bertha Adreon West died peacefully in Lakewood, Colorado on December 20th, 2014 with her daughter Marguerite Adreonna West, and her sister, Myrna (Adreon) Underwood at her bedside. Born Bertha Mae Adreon on November 10th, 1921 to parents Charles and Albena Adreon, she grew up in Sibley, Iowa in a family of eight children. After graduating from Sibley High School in 1940, Bertha earned a teaching certificate and spent the next six years teaching both primary and secondary students in a one room schoolhouse in rural Iowa. She cherished the memories of those years throughout her life, delighted in recounting her experiences and enjoyed keeping in touch with many of her students. A serendipitous meeting with a handsome Merchant Marine while on a cross country train trip led to her marriage to Glen West on July 12th, 1945 at the Community Church of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colorado, Glen's home town. He persuaded her to move to Estes where they purchased a small summer cottage that through the years they transformed into a loving home in which they raised a son, Danny, and daughter, Marguerite (Peggy). Bertha proudly maintained this family residence for nearly seventy years until her death, fondly referring to it as "my little shack on the hill." Although she and Glen also owned a "snowbird nest" in Arizona, Bertha always considered Estes Park her home. Sharing with Glen in the support of their family, Bertha worked as a teller for the then Estes Park Bank, as Secretary to the Superintendant of Schools and Board of Education, as a small business owner, as a realtor, and as a civil servant, retiring from Rocky Mountain National Park after a thirteen year career with the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service. Bertha's fiery red hair bespoke her unpretentious free spirit and zest for life, yet she often lamented that the world was moving just too fast. She was a true "Princess" of compassion to those in need. A talented artist, she wrote poetry and mastered the transfer of her heart through a paintbrush, specializing in china painting that reflected her appreciation of nature and her eye for the beauty in life. Her greatest talent was that of dedicated homemaker, a loving wife and the consummate Mother. Bertha was preceded in death by her husband, Glen, her infant grandson, Samuel Glen West, and six of her siblings. She is survived by her daughter, Marguerite West of Lakewood, Colorado, her sister, Myrna Underwood of Ocala, Florida, two nieces, Ilea Herbert of Sibley, Iowa and Donna Ebsen of Arlington, Texas, and a son, Danny, daughter-in-law, Bobbi, and beloved granddaughter, Misha, all of Arizona. Interment will be beside her sister, Marguerite Gower, at Holman Township Cemetery in Sibley, Iowa.