Bertha Thompson

Bertha “Bertie” Thompson, 85, of Sioux Falls formerly of Baltic died Tuesday, December 8, 2009 at Golden Living Covington Heights in Sioux Falls.

Funeral services will be 1:00 PM Monday, December 14, 2009 at Baltic Lutheran Church, Baltic, SD Visitation with the family present from 2-4:PM Sunday at the Minnehaha Funeral Home, Baltic. Burial will be in the St. Olaf Cemetery, rural Baltic.

Bertie was born February 9, 1924 on a farm near Wentworth to parents Henry and Boukie Amert. She graduated from Madison High School and then the Sioux Valley School of Nursing. Birdie married Lew Thompson November 28, 1946 in Madison. They lived in Sioux Falls and moved to Baltic in 1956. They returned to Sioux Falls in 1971. She worked two years as the Administrator of the Winner Hospital, but spent most of her nursing career at the Royal C. Johnson Veterans Hospital in Sioux Falls as a head nurse.

Bertie enjoyed playing Pitch and Whist in their card club, playing bingo and going to rummages and having coffee with her friends and family. She was a member of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls and a former member of Baltic Lutheran Church.
Grateful for having shared her life are her husband, Lew Thompson, Sioux Falls; a daughter, Diane (James) Hutchins, Sioux Falls; two sons, Bill Thompson, Springfield; Jim (Vonda) Thompson, Wichita, Kansas; grandchildren, Free (Steve) Smith, Bill Thompson III; Michael and Paul Hutchins; step grandchildren, Robin (Carol) Stolz; Michelle (Dan) Kornblum; 8 great grandchildren; two sisters in law, Arlene Amert and Laura Amert, both of Madison; and many other relatives and friends.

She was preceded in death by four brothers and three sisters.