Pike Township Family Stories
ALBERT J. (BERT) AND BERTHA NASH
Nichols, Iowa Centennial Book 1884-1984, page 208
By Berniece Nash HadleyBertha Shew came to Nichols about 1891 with her mother, Minerva Carl Shew, after the death of her father, Isaac Shew, in Newton, Kansas. A few years later, Mrs. Shew married William Donham, farmer and carpenter. He had two daughters, Belle Donham and Estella Donham, by a previous marriage. All three girls were then raised in the Donham home.
Bertha graduated from Nichols High school in 1904. After taking a normal training short course in Muscatine, she taught in rural schools for two years. In June,1906, she was united in marriage with A. J. “Bert” Nash. They lived east of Nichols on the farm south of her mother’s family, north of what is now Pike Grange hall. A few years later they moved into Nichols where they lived until Bert’s death at age 44 in 1928. He was a farmer and rural mail carrier.
Four children were born to Bert and Bertha Nash: Leila Bernice Nash, Beula Minerva Nash, Edwin A Nash, and Albert Judson Nash, Junior, who died at age 15 in a tragic highway accident.
Bernice Nash, the oldest child, graduated from Nichols High school, Iowa State Teachers’ college and The University of Iowa. She taught in grade schools in Washington, Nichols and Muscatine for some 30 years. She married James Hadley in 1938, and they have lived on their farm southeast of Nichols for 45 years [1984].
James Edwin Hadley, the son of James Hadley and Bernice Nash Hadley, was graduated from Nichols High school and Arizona State college. He has been employed by Continental Air Lines and lives in Tucson, Arizona. He married Cathy Brindley of Phoenix in 1970.
Beula Nash, the second daughter of Bert and Bertha Nash, graduated from Nichols High school and Iowa State Teachers’ college. She taught primary grades for several years before her marriage to Millard Berry of Lake Mills, Iowa, in 1936. His work as a teacher caused them to live in Pleasantville, Iowa, Alton and Champaign, Illinois. They have four daughters.
Edwin A. Nash, son of Bert and Bertha Nash, was born in 1916. He graduated from Nichols High school in 1928 and from Iowa State Teachers’ college. During World War II he was in the United States Air Force, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He married Leona Freerksen of Kanawha, Iowa.
In 1958 he took his Doctorate of Philosophy from The University of Iowa and has since been a teacher at State Teachers college, St. Cloud, Minnesota, and State University of Wisconsin, Superior. They live in Superior, Wisconsin. They are parents of two children.
After the death of Bert Nash, Bertha Nash continued to live in Nichols. She spent much time caring for her mother, Mrs. Donham, until her death, and spending time with her three children. The last seven winters of her life were spent in Pasadena, California, with her sister-in-law, Ila Nash. They were both active in working with the Laubach Literacy program. She lived to be 88 years of age. She met her death in a car-pedestrian accident in Pasadena in 1974. Bert and Bertha are interred in the Nichols cemetery.
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Page created December 18, 2010 by Lynn McCleary