Ferrell, Bertha T. (Tedrow) 1911-2004

FERRELL, TEDROW, CAMBLIN, PEARSON, MANNING

Posted By: Debbie Nash (email)
Date: 8/10/2004 at 23:14:37

Bertha T. Ferrell
August 09, 2004

Bertha T. Ferrell, 93, of rural Hedrick died at 2:50 p.m. Aug. 8, 2004, at Jefferson County Hospital.

The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Reece Funeral Home in Ottumwa, with the Rev. Harlan "Frosty" Van Voorst officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Ottumwa.

Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home, with family present from 6-8 p.m.

Memorials can be made to Living Care Center and Jefferson County Hospital Activity Fund.

Mrs. Ferrell was born Aug. 6, 1911, in rural Selma in an area commonly known as Turkey Scratch, the daughter of Joseph Brown and Grace Camblin Tedrow. She married Floyd William Ferrell May 20, 1933, in Lancaster, Mo. He died June 12, 1981.

She was a student of Pleasant Plain No. 1 country school near Selma. She attended Selma High School, leaving two years before graduation to enter nurses training in 1929. She graduated from St. Joseph Academy in Ottumwa Aug. 29, 1932, and received Iowa certification as a registered nurse Feb. 10, 1933.

In the 1930s and 1940s, she was employed for private nursing cases in Ottumwa and by the old Ottumwa hospital. After nine years devoted to rearing her children, she was employed by Ottumwa Regional Health Center caring for elderly and nursery patients. Until her retirement in 1977, she worked 18 years in the medical office of F.C. Perkins in Hedrick.

She and her husband farmed near Ottumwa and, from 1947, in Hedrick.

Mrs. Ferrell enjoyed farming, gardening, hunting, raising cattle, going for walks in the timber and playing the piano.

She was a member of Order of Eastern Star, Ollie Chapter 549.

Survivors include two sons, James Edward Ferrell of Hedrick, Dennis William Ferrell of Ottumwa, nine grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Lloyd Denton Tedrow of Manning, N.D., and Glenn Oscar Tedrow of rural Fairfield; and one sister, Ellen Pearson of Libertyville.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by four brothers, George Vern Tedrow, Rayburn Joseph Tedrow, Brice Everett Tedrow and Murl Gilmore Tedrow; and two sisters, Mildred Tedrow and Zelda Manning.

Courtesy of the Fairfield Daily Ledger Inc. 2004