Mary Louise Rathfon

Mary Louise Rathfon was born June 26, 1923 in Dunkirk, New York to Beryl (Wallace) and Paul Rathfon and passed away on July 7, 2022 at 99 years of age. She was preceded in death by her brother Paul Rathfon and husband, Carl Bertsch. During her childhood, Mary Lou moved to various locations in the United States, including Chicago, St. Louis, and San Diego, finally settling in Oakland, CA. Mary Lou and her family lived through the Great Depression, which left an indelible mark on her psyche. Mary Lou attended UC Berkeley for a year, majoring in art, with the intent to become an art teacher. She maintained a lifelong interest in art, with many lovely paintings and drawings to her credit. World War II and the death of her father changed her career path to nursing. She attended Providence Hospital School of Nursing, where as a student she became an Army Cadet Nurse with the plan to care for our troops overseas after she graduated. The war ended before she graduated in 1945, so Mary Lou took a position as a Registered Nurse at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, CA where she worked for several years. She lived with her mother, Aunt Verna, and great grandmother, Jesse Wallace, in Westwood, CA. Mary Lou married Carl Bertsch on October 11, 1948. Together they had four children. In 1952 Carl decided to start a brick business in El Salvador. They sold their small house on Sunset Blvd. in the Pacific Palisades and moved into a rental, where she waited with two toddlers, Sue and Jack, until Carl would send for her. Unfortunately, the business did not work out and Carl came back to the States. Upon his return, they moved to Azusa, CA, where Carl started work at Aerojet General. Karen was born there in 1955. Soon the company transferred him to the Sacramento area where they purchased a home in Fair Oaks after a year or two. Eric was born there in 1957. In 1964, Carl tried another business venture, this time in St. George, Queensland, Australia. He and some business associates from Aerojet formed the Southern Cross Cotton Company and proceeded to buy a square mile of land to grow cotton. After Eric recovered from a case of chickenpox, Mary Lou followed him there with the four kids. St. George was a rough and ready town at that time, with sheep stations, jackaroos, and a town center straight out of the old west. Mary Lou learned how to cook on a wood stove and do her laundry on a washboard. Apparently the associates could not agree on farming practices, so the company was sold and in 1965 , the family moved to Sydney, Australia. Carl’s mother had passed away leaving the family some money to get by in Sydney where they remained until 1966. The family then took the P&O ship the SS Iberia back to California, with stops in New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Victoria, BC, San Francisco, and finally Long Beach. Mary Lou and Carl moved into the Tustin home that had belonged to Carl’s mother. Carl and his brother, Adolf had some ideas about starting a business, but never got off the ground. Carl resumed working at Aerojet and the family moved to Diamond Bar and subsequently Covina. In 1973 Carl, Mary Lou, Karen, and Eric moved to Arcata, CA where Carl worked as a Welfare Administrator for Humboldt County. After Mary Lou took classes to become a Medical Records transcriptionist. She worked at Mad River Hospital until she retired at age 62. Mary Lou and Carl traveled extensively in their RV upon retirement. They even took a cruise to Alaska where the boat caught fire and had to be rescued at sea. The cruise line made it up to them with a free trip to Alaska. Ultimately, the couple purchased a park model in the Sun Vista RV Resort in Yuma AZ. Mary Lou remained at Sun Vista, after Carl passed away in 2001, until 2009 when she moved in with her daughter, Sue, in Clovis CA. In 2015, Sue retired and Mary Lou moved to Redmond, OR, where she resided until her death. Mary Lou is the beloved mother of and survived by her children; Linda (Sue) Bertsch, John (Jack) Bertsch (Gayle), Karen Molloy, and Eric Bertsch (Lavinia). She has 6 grandchildren; Ariel, Emily, John Madison, Jenni, Kalani, and Kyle and 1 great grandchild, Rubey. We will always miss her and treasure our memories of her. Mary Lou will be cremated by Autumn Funerals in Redmond, OR. A memorial and scattering of the ashes will be held at a later date, as yet to be determined.