Bertha Love Boutchee Chew passed away peacefully on Friday afternoon, April 6th, 2018 in Marion, Mississippi at the Bedford Care Retirement Center.
Born Bertha Love in Kemper Springs Mississippi July 16th 1924. to Richard and Mary Love, she was the oldest of 7 children: 5 Brothers , Marzell (Wife Ivera) Eartha, Samuel, William, Evans and Sister Nannette.
Bertha graduated from Dekalb High School in 1942 and started a career working as a domestic in some of Meridian Mississippi’s Oldest Homes.
In 1950 she blessed the world with her First child, Daughter Linda (Husband James Harris)
Like so many of her generation that were born in the south, In 1955 she moved to Chicago to pursue a life in the Big City where she met her late husband Henry Chew and in 1962 they had her Second child, son Richard Chew (Wife, Anne Byerwalter). While maintaining a close connection with family members residing in Chicago, IL, Bertha and Henry moved to the cozy little town of Union Pier, Michigan in 1968.
Bertha was a diligent, hard-working woman of her generation who held various domestic, labor and nurses aid jobs to support her immediate family and those who were part of her extended family. She spent the majority of her working career doing what she loved as the head cook for The Gerber Babywear company in Three Oaks, Michigan where she retired in 1986.
During those years Bertha, Henry and members of the Love, Baylor and Chew families made it their mission to celebrate each other with numerous family picnics, barbeques, dances, church-gatherings and many other events to maintain a connection with their pasts and dreams of their futures.
Bertha loved to cook, sew, work in the garden, travel and cook some more. She was also very active with her church family at Community Baptist Church in Union Pier, Michigan as a Church Mother for over a decade. In addition she was part of the New Buffalo High School PTA and Boy Scouts Den Mothers Association.
After nearly 40 years of living in Chicago and Michigan she decided it was time to return to her warmer “Southern Roots” and in 1990 she built a home and moved back to Kemper Springs, MS. Over the past 28 years Bertha was an active member of the Evangelist Christian Baptist Church in Lauderdale, MS and an active member of the Greater Meridian, MS community. In 2013 she decided it was time to have a few other Senior Roommates and became a resident of Bedford Care Center in Marion, MS. where she lived until her recent passing away.
Bertha leaves a number of great family members; Brother Marzell Love (Wife Ivera) Daughter Linda Harris (Husband James Harris) Son Richard Chew (Wife Anne Byerwalter) Step-Daughter Lolita Chew, 8 Grandchildren, Desiree (Husband Christopher Walker), Shawanna (Husband Shante Gleese), Chantall, Kenneth, Dedrick, Landrum, 4 Great-Grandchildren, Kayla, Rashad, Jalen, Miracle; And Some wonderful Nieces and Nephews, Audley Mackel (Wife Sharon Mackel) Karen, Deanna, Paris, Omar, Bilal, Jarvis Towner (Wife Vilonia Towner)...and a host of others who impacted her life and that she loved for many years.