Greer, Bertha A. (Dr.)

GREER

Posted By: Mary H. Cochrane, Volunteer
Date: 6/30/2019 at 13:00:42

Dr. Bertha Ann (Allen) Greer

Lamoni's Passing Parade
by Joseph H. Anthony. Blair Publ. Co. ca. 1948.

There is a theory that certain stars in the heavens represent individuals who have departed this earth; and the more worthy the life of the individual, the more brightly his star shines. If a condition of this kind exists, I am sure that no star representing a departed Lamoni citizen could shine more brightly than the one representing the life of Dr. Bertha A. Greer.

Many years ago she came to Lamoni to practice her profession and opened an office in the building which stood where the telephone office now stands. Later she built the large square house which stands on the corner to the northeast of this location, and which will probably always be known as the Greer property. My first contact with her was shortly after she had opened her office her. I was a shy, backward youngster and had come through the darkness and a drenching rain only because my mother insisted that she was too ill to go through the night without the attention of a physician. The doctor eyed me critically as I stood hesitatingly just inside the door of her office, and in her abrupt manner she inquired why I had come. I tried clumsily to explain and felt pretty much crushed when, as I thought, she was inclined to scold me for not coming while it was still daylight. In my confusion I felt like making a dash for the door, until she forestalled such action and commanded me to sit down until she had time to see what arrangements could be made.

A short time later her carriage drew up at the door and after a few preliminary arrangements I was seated beside her, riding through the night and the storm more or less bewildered and wondering what she would command me to do next, but realizing, too, that whatever it was there would be not alternative but to obey. After a ride of a few blocks we arrived at mother's home and the doctor set to work to make the patient comfortable and administered whatever attention she deemed was needed. There was no hasty examination and polite withdrawal, but a deliberate, painstaking investigation of every factor pertaining to the case, which lasted until well into the night and ended only when she felt assured she had accomplished the result she sought.

I cite this personal experience only because it was so typical of the service she rendered to the people of Lamoni. For many years she was a familiar figure in practically every home in Lamoni. Day or night, winter or summer, she visited home after home, lending every possible effort to alleviate pain and suffering. She ushered hundreds of little red-skinned, squalling Lamonites into this world, and then struggles with every form of disease to keep them alive and healthy; and there are many of them living today who would not have been but for her excellent nursing her efficient and untiring efforts, and the loyalty to the task to which she had consecrated her life.

To think of her merely as a dispenser of medicine or prescriptions would be little short of sacrilege. She was a woman of decisive action and one who gave loyal support to every organization in the community which stood for the uplift of the citizens. She was a woman of ability, who fortified that ability through her faith in prayer to the extent her problems were never undertaken alone. As a benefactor of mankind she holds a permanent place in the hearts of Lamoni citizens, who treasure the memory of her and her services as a precious asset and place her without question in the forefront of Lamoni's passing parade.

Copied by Jean Belzer
Saturday, June 23, 2001