Bertha C. Boelter

Bertha C. Boelter, age 93, of Bristow, passed away Friday, March 1, 2013, at Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, SD.

Visitation was held on Sunday, March 3, 2013, from 5-7 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bristow.

Funeral services were held on Monday, March 4, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Bristow with Vicar Glen Stahlecker officiating.

Burial was in the Pleasant Valley Cemetery, southwest of Verdigre.

Brockhaus Funeral Home in Spencer was in charge of arrangements.

Bertha Clara, daughter of John and Mary (Belka) Volquardsen was born May 15, 1919, in Verdigre, the second of 15 children. She attended school in Midway and graduated from Ash Grove.

She married Reno Boelter on Feb. 22, 1938, in O'Neill. Four children were blessed to this marriage: Irene, Judy, Fred and Ed. Bertha and Reno farmed in and around the Orchard and Lynch areas and then moved to Bristow in 1970. 

She worked at the Venus Store, Frances Store and the Retzlaff Grocery in Lynch. She also worked as a night nurse's aide at the Sacred Heart Hospital and then continued on to the Niobrara Valley Hospital for 38 years. Bertha thoroughly enjoyed her time at the hospital helping others. 

She was devoted to her family and was a loving mother and grandmother. She enjoyed cooking, walking, reading and her family.

Left to mourn her loss are one daughter, Judy (Chet) Hiserote; two sons, Fred (Jill) Boelter and Ed (Loree) Boelter; son-in-law, Vic Pickering; three sisters, Grace Pavlik, Gladys Gleason and Helen Branigan; six grandchildren: Dean Pickering, Mike Hiserote, Cherry Hiserote, Brad Hiserote, Kylie Zimmerer and Sally Kummer and nine great-grandchildren: Whitney, Mary, Dakota, Dallas, Hunter, Zach, Brandon, Kaleb and Kolby.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Reno Boelter; one daughter, Irene Pickering; one great-grandson, Trey Zimmerer; seven brothers, Johnny, Carl, Gordon, Bernard, Glen, Donald and Dale (in infancy); and four sisters, Myrtle, Marie, Eleanor and Rosemary (in infancy).

Bertha will be in our thoughts and memories forever.