Shirley Faye Bertin

1937 - 2025

"Individuality is freedom lived." -John Dos Passos

Shirley Faye Bertin, 88, died Sept. 5, 2025 at Rosebud Health Care Center, where she had lived for the past three years. While there, she kept the staff busy by correcting their grammar and attempting to teach people the difference between "that" and "which." She was a teacher and fiercely proud mother and grandmother until the end.

Shirley was born March 7, 1937 to Jenny (Lucile) and Herbert Hahn in Mapleton, Iowa. The youngest of 9 siblings, she never backed down, whether it was to defend her opinion or to wrestle with her brothers.

She lost her mother to cancer at the age of 13, but continued to live on the family farm throughout World War II. Her four older sisters took on the job of mothering her.

After she graduated from high school, she attended the University of Iowa. While at university, she met her future husband of 22 years, James L. Bertin. The pair married in 1958 and went on to have four children: Julia, Rebecca, Tanya and James (Jim/Jimmy).

Shirley continued to work and attend college throughout their marriage, balancing caring for four young children with her classes and teaching work. She was fiercely protective of her brood; protecting her children was one of her primary drives as a mother. A child of Depression-era parents, Shirley had an amazing work ethic, and expected the same in others. She could not tolerate waste, laziness, incompetence, bigotry and/or bad grammar.

While caring for her four young children, she earned a Master's degree, also in English. A lifelong teacher and writer, she believed passionately that every student, no matter their background, deserved a good education. She spent most of her life working with disadvantaged and underprivileged students, including at Des Moines Department of Corrections and Upward Bound. She moved to Miles City, MT, in 1977, where she taught English at Miles Community College. She was the driving force in setting up the adult education/GED program that serves eastern Montana, creating several satellite offices to allow rural residents to take classes.

She next moved to California to be close to children and grandchildren. In the decade she lived there, she taught adult education at Long Beach City College and worked in the administration department at Ventura College. After her time in California, she moved to Missoula to be close to another daughter and grandchildren. While there, she faithfully attended all the grandchildren's musical performances and school activities.

In 2002, she moved to Hysham, MT, where she could be close to other members of the family. There she fully embraced being a Pirate fan, even constructing a black and gold fence to show her support for all her Hysham grandchildren's sports. She greatly enjoyed supporting her grandsons in nearby Colstrip as they performed in music, theater and speech and drama and track.

In later years, she tutored inmates at the Rosebud County Jail, working with them on reading and writing skills. For a time she worked as a proofreader for the Independent Press. Even after a stroke stole her mobility in 2014, Shirley was an avid reader and enthusiastic grammarian. Despite her physical challenges, she continued to educate those around her. For Shirley, education was a lifelong mission.

She took great pride in the creativity, intellectual endeavors, compassion, musical ability and free spiritedness of her children, which then extended to her grandchildren. Shirley was deeply proud of all of her grandchildren, and enjoyed their differences, encouraging each of them to embrace their own unique selves. She influenced their tastes in books, movies and encouraged life discussion over pie and cookies, teaching the importance of doing things "just right."

She is survived by her four children Julia (Steve) Hollowell of Hysham, MT, Rebecca Bertin of Missoula, MT, Tanya Bertin of Des Moines, IA, Jim (Kate) Bertin of Colstrip, MT, with 14 grandchildren: Letitia (Ryan), Adrienne and Kelvin; Kael, Dain, Tait (Sarah), and Tatia (Coul); Tor, Thain and Kian; and Eddie, Tibi, Madeline (Ryan), and William. She also has five great-grandchildren, Dominic, Vini, Oliver, Penelope, and Cypress; a step-great-grandchild Ezekiel, her sister Elizabeth of Colorado Springs; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents Lucile and Herbert, her brothers Johnny, Norman, Hank and Francis, her sisters Pauline, Jenny, and Juanita. She was proud of all her family, and kept in touch with her extended family, writing and receiving lengthy letters nearly to the end.

Shirley's family will miss her each and every day, but holidays especially will seem a little emptier. She was quick with a joke and kept everyone on their toes. A highlight of family gatherings was always her pies, especially her famous French silk. Her hours spent in the kitchen were truly a labor of love.

She loved to talk about her children and grandchildren. In fact, she was talking about her children at the very end, passing away peacefully mid-sentence with a smile on her face.

At Shirley's request, no services will be held. A private family memorial will occur at a later date. Memorial donations can be made in Shirley's name to Simbolei Academy, a girl's school in Kenya run by Shirley's niece, Andrea. Donations can be made through simboleiacademy.org, or send a check made out to "Simbolei" to Kibor Kaitany, 114 Oakdale, #5, Royal Oak, MI, 48067.

Shirley Faye Bertin