June 24, 1920 – July 31, 1999
Sr. Bertha (Kathleen) Vogel, 79, died at the Monastery of St. Gertrude on July 31, 1999. She was born June 24, 1920, in Nezperce, ID, to Ferdinand and Anne (Mucken) Vogel.
Sr. Bertha entered St. Gertrude’s in 1934 and was featured in the last Canticle for celebrating her 60th anniversary as a professed Benedictine.
After completing nurses training at Mercy Hospital in Nampa, ID, Sr. Bertha spent 27 years working in the health care field as a nurse and x-ray technician at St. Valentine’s Hospital in Wendell, ID; Our Lady of Consolation Hospital in Cottonwood; St. Mary’s Hospital in Cottonwood; and St. Benedict’s Hospital in Jerome, ID.
From 1957-1984 Sr. Bertha ministered at the monastery as the procurator and plant manager. Following her work at the monastery, she returned to part-time health care, working as a hospital visitor and as an in-home elder caregiver. After she “retired”, Sr. Bertha ran the switchboard at the monastery until blindness forced her into actual retirement in 1998.
Sr. Bertha was often described by friends and co-workers as gentle, yet brusque; full of faith and fun, deeply loving and generous, and very interested in many things.
She is survived by her sisters, Bernie Wright of Reno, NV; Dorothy Dudley of Clarkston, WA; Margaret Snodgrass of Tacoma, WA; Betty Spencer of Lewiston, ID, and Barbara Frei of Grangeville, ID. Also surviving are her brothers Fred of Nezperce, ID, and James of Bountiful, UT, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on August 3, 1999.