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Bertha was born Bertha Edythe Heinzman on 6/26/1905 in Cincinnati, OH. On December 27,1924 She married Herbert Trefzger. For more on Bertha's life after her marriage see Herb's page.
"They named me 'Bertha' after a lovely, gracious, benevolent Aunt of Harry's - Bertha Sandhager. Bertha was grandpa Heinzman's sister. She had really accepted mother into the Heinzman family and having the 'means' she helped mother and dad in every way. My second name Edith, was given to me in baptism, when mother chose one of her sisters (Edith) and Henry George Sandhager to be my godparents. The baptism took place in St. Francis de Sales Church by Fr. J. Henry Schengber, pastor on July 2, 1905."
When Bertha was two years old the family moved to 425 Southview in Fairview Heights. "My pre-school years were spent visiting my aunts. There were 8 sisters and 4 brothers. ..It was a closely knit family and they loved to get together. ..This meant we had to take the Fairview incline."
"I attended kindergarten in the basement of an old frame church on Warner Street." "The closest parochial school was St. George School on Calhoun Street. At the age of six, mother thought that was too great a distance for me to walk each day. I attended public school, the 23rd District or Fairview School on Warner Street." "By the time I reached third grade a brand new school (parochial) was built. St. Monica School on Herman Street. .. I attended St. Monica from the 3rd grade through the 7th grade."
"In 1918 we had a flu epidemic - schools, churches, meeting places - all closed. Mother and dad were stricken. We had to wear masks when we entered the bedroom. Many died."
"I was sent to St. Ursula Academy on McMillan Street for the 8th grade." Bertha attended St Ursula Academy for the four yeas of high school. "I graduated in 1923."
"Herb's mother and my mother were friends. About a year before we met his mother sent me a picture of her two sons and wrote on the reverse side "Take your choice". My friend Mary Leininger said "Oh! Take Herb, he is a lot of fun."
"After we met, Herb didn't seem too interested in me however the first week, he came every night. He was house cleaning at his aunt Nellie's on Hosea Avenue, a nice walk to Cornell Place."
"In August (1923) I visited the Connells's in Chicago to see Herb, who lived with Pagels in Maywood and worked in Melrose Park at the Richardson Roofing Company. He had to inspect their material when he worked for the Underwriters Laboratory. He was so determined and conscientious in withholding the Underwriters Label on several occasions since their product didn't meet the Underwriters requirement- he was offered a job as foreman in their new battery box department in Melrose Park, west of Chicago."
"Herb was working in Melrose Park and we wrote to each other every night - to this day, I claim he got tired of writing and decided it was time to get married. He claims he didn't think I was old enough. I was 19 1/2 when we married. When Herb came home and asked me to marry him he had grown a mustache that happened to be red. I began to cry, 'I couldn't imagine marrying a man with a red mustache', or maybe it could have been, 'I thought he would never ask'. We finally arrived at setting a date. Herb wanted Thanksgiving, I suggested Easter to give me more time - well we compromised and set the date for the Saturday after Christmas December 27, 1924."
Bertha died on 12/19/1999 in St. Francis Hospital, Westwood. She is buried in the Heinzman Plot, Spring Grove Cemetary, Cincinnati, OH.
*Quotes by Bertha Heinzman.
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