Ruth Esther Bertsch, 98, of Miller died Sunday, July 18, 2010, at Miller Good Samaritan Center.

Her funeral will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Miller with the Rev. Bob Ohnstad officiating. Burial will follow in St. Lawrence Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today with a 7 p.m. prayer service at Reck Funeral Home in Miller.

Ruth Freitag was born June 29, 1912, at Delmont to Gustav and Annette (Trottnow) Freitag. They moved to a farm at Kaylor when she was 4.

On Aug. 22, 1937, she married Ed Bertsch and they lived in Menno. In 1940 they moved to the St. Lawrence area and in 1943 they moved to a farm one mile north of St. Lawrence. She worked on the farm and as a store clerk in St. Lawrence and Miller. He died June 13, 1978. In 1979 she moved to Miller and in February 2003 she became a resident of Miller Good Samaritan Center. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Miller.

She is survived by a daughter, Janice Manning of Miller; a son, Ron (Jan) of Yankton; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; a brother, Rudy of Miller; and a sister, Leona Dunlap of Gresham, Ore.

She was preceded in death by her husband; a great-granddaughter; seven brothers; four sisters; and a son-in-law, Artie Manning.

Memorials may be sent to the St. Lawrence Cemetery Association or Sioux Falls Children’s Home.

Arrangements are with Reck Funeral Home of Miller, www.familyfuneralhome.net.

For the complete article see the 07-21-2010 issue.

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