Obituary of Bertha May Stewart Chirgwin

Bertha May Stewart Chirgwin passed away peacefully at Wells Nursing Home on January 12, 2009 at age 101.She was born to J.L. and Ida Chapman Stewart in Greenville, SC on July 31, 1907. Her parents migrated the year before from South Carolina to Helena, Montana where they were homesteaders. Her mother traveled to South Carolina by train along with their son Jesse, a toddler, to give birth in Greenville among family and later returned to Montana. Bertha and her siblings attended The Little Red School, a one-room school on the outskirts of Helena which has now been placed on the National Historic Register. She also attended a religious school for girls, The Montana Deaconess School, in Helena. When hard times forced her father to give up the Helena ranch, she and her sister Dorothy spent a year in South Carolina working at a textile mill. They returned to Montana, where Bertha was forced to continue working rather than complete high school in order to support the family. She married James Chirgwin of Helena in 1926. They resided in Great Falls, Butte and Bozeman, Montana while raising their four children. Bertha relocated to Seattle, WA in 1955 and later lived for many years in Berkeley, Carmel and San Luis Obispo, California. She held positions as a sales clerk, dining room hostess and cashier for more than forty years. While in California she was a volunteer for the Levine Hospital. Following an illness and hospitalization she relocated to Gloversville, New York in 2002 to be near family. She was renowned for her quick mind and words of wisdom for any situation. Her motto was "Love Many; Trust Few; and Always Paddle Your Own Canoe", a credo that served her well for 101 years. She was also a prodigious letter writer and corresponded with friends and family all over the country. She was predeceased by her husband in 1988 as well as three siblings: Jesse Stewart, Dorothy Stewart Bloemker and Ernest Stewart. Surviving are a son, John S. Chirgwin Shirley of Couer d'Alene, Idaho; daughters, Frances Chirgwin Shellenberger of Laurel, Maryland and Dorothy Chirgwin Holly Ronald Sr., and thirteen grandchildren, twenty six great grandchildren and four great great grandchildren. A daughter, Margaret Joyce Chirgwin Henningsen of Hayward, California died in 2002. Bertha's family wishes to extend a heartfelt "thank you" to the entire staff at Wells Nursing Home for their kindness and compassion given to our mother during her year in their care. There will be no calling hours. A private memorial service will be held at a later date at the convenience of the family. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Walrath & Stewart Funeral Home, 51 Fremont Street, Gloversville. Memorial contributions may be made to the Activity Department, Wells Nursing Home, 201 West Madison Ave., Johnstown, NY 12095 or to the Little Red Schoolhouse, Inc., 1635 Sierra Road, Helena, MT 59601.