Bertha Bell Bennett

A beautiful, kind, and loving soul has been taken from our lives by our merciful Lord and Savior. Bertha Bennett was taken to her eternal rest on August 18, 2020. Bertha touched so many lives with her generous spirit and always wanting to help others! In the words of one of her sweet cousins, Diana, "Bertha was a lovely lady who overcame a difficult past, revered all nature and animals, always kept a positive attitude, and always desired to better herself through continual learning and interest in her environment." She chose to be a loyal and fun-loving person to all her family and friends!! Bertha was born on May 6, 1928 to Dan Emanuel Bennett and Edna Blanch Kongable Bennett. She was the last of five children: Jim Vincent Bennett, Vena Mae Bennett, Effie Bennett, and Ruth Lois Bennett. They all lived in a 2 room house in Ralston, Oklahoma. When Bertha was 13 she went to live with Grandma Henrietta Kongable in Guthrie, Okla. She attended Guthrie High School, and graduated with honors in 1947. While in high school, she worked at the Kress 5 & 10 cent store. After graduation, she worked as a receptionist for Dr. Ringrose. She attended Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas from 1948 - 1950. During the summer, Bertha worked at Cherries Cafe in Oklahoma City. In 1950, Aunt Monnie Kongable asked Bertha to live with her and help raise Stella White Eagle, who she adopted in 1949. Stella was the daughter of Bertha's sister, Vena Mae Bennett White Eagle. Bertha lived with Aunt Monnie from 1950 to 1961 when Aunt Monnie passed away from Breast Cancer.Bertha went to work for the Hoover Vacuum Co. in the summer of 1950 and worked there until 1958.Aunt Winnie asked Bertha to come stay with her in January 1958. Bertha returned to Okla. City in March 1958 and went to work for Aero Design and Eng. Co. which became Rockwell Mfg. and was Gulfstream Aerospace when she retired in January 1986. That company is now General Dynamics Co.After retirement, Bertha became self-employed as cleaning and care giver to several families; including Edingers, Rosemond, Steinmeyers, Barde, Milligan, Wolford, Mathis, Farmer and King. In 1986, Bruce Wheeler, Stella's husband, asked Bertha to be care giver to his father, Bruce Sr. She took care of Mr. Wheeler until his death in 1990. Due to Bertha's declining health, Justin Clark, her Grandnephew, become her live-in care giver in October 2016. In 2018, Justin's friend, Sophia Machado, graciously offered to help Justin take care of Bertha until her death in 2020. We will forever be in their debt for their sacrificial service in allowing Bertha to stay in her home until she passed away. Bertha started writing poems in 1987. Dorothy Farmer, a life-time friend, gave Bertha a book on her 59th birthday in which she wrote a multitude of poems! She pinned this phrase: Practical Poems for Particular People from a Passable Poet. She always had a unique way with words!! Bertha's work in caring for people was the subject matter for most of her poems.Bertha was preceded in death by her father Dan Bennett and her mother Edna Kongable Bennett, her brother James V. Bennett, her sisters, Effie, Vena and Ruth, and her Grandnephew Mark Andrew Wheeler, Stella White Eagle Gomez's son.She is survived by her Niece, (more like a daughter) Stella White Eagle Gomez and other nieces and nephews: James' children – Gary and Michael, Effie's children – Roley, Ruth's children – Josephine, William, Mary Katherine, Glenn, Joe Louis, Betsy, Esty, and Mary Lou; and numerous Grand nieces and nephews, and Great Grand nieces and nephews.