Bertha K. Kelner

1921 - 2016

Bertha (Bertie) Krugelis Kelner, died peacefully at her home on the Sudbury River in Concord, on December 13th, just before her 95th birthday. She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Katrina L. Kelner and Norman Hershkowitz of Arlington VA; son and daughter-in-law, Stowell R. R. Kelner and Rhonda Hall Kelner of Somerville MA; and four grandsons J. Cole Hershkowitz, Rowan H. Kelner, Nathaniel H. Kelner, and D. Ellis Hershkowitz. The daughter of Peter and Ezabel Krugelis, she was born December 19, 1921, in Waterbury CT where she grew up in a Lithuanian-Italian neighborhood. She attended the Boston School of Occupational Therapy (BSOT) and, after graduation, worked as a therapist at various Boston institutions. A forward-thinking professional, she founded the first hospital-based occupational therapy department in the country, at the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital. She married Robert Cole Kelner in 1949, and in 1952 they moved to the new housing development of Conantum in Concord MA. They had two children who attended local schools, but her husbands job took the family for several years to Florida and California. In 1969 they returned to their house in Concord, where Bertie remained for the rest of her life. In the early 1970s Bertie founded a successful consulting business, Bertha K. Kelner and Associates. She and her colleagues provided occupational therapy services to many assisted living facilities and nursing homes in eastern Massachusetts. Characteristic of her ability to connect with all sorts of people, she was an important professional and personal mentor for many of the young women whom she employed. Bertie remained connected to the occupational therapy community, serving as an annual speaker at the Aging Well seminars at BSOT into her 90s. Bertie was a passionate traveler, starting with forays to Mexico and Central America in the late 1960s. From her sons home in London, she and Bob Kelner made many trips throughout Europe. France and Spain were particular favorites. Even after her husbands death in 2000, she traveled frequently, including trips with Katrina to Japan and Portugal, visits to friends in Florida and Budapest, and a reunion with family relations in Lithuania. Her family and friends will especially miss her enthusiasm for life and cheerful determination regardless of circumstance. She was always ahead of her time and will be remembered for starting a fish co-op in Conantum that involved many early hours at the Boston docks, for bringing the new notion of jogging back from California, for her skill in the kitchen and passion for healthy and tasty food, and most memorably for her ability to throw a good party, whether for two guests or a crowd of 50. At her request, there will be a family ceremony in the spring. Donations in her honor can be sent to the New England Wildflower Society.