Bertha Walter

Bertha Walter

April 5, 1933 - February 28, 2016

West Salem - Bertha Anita Walter passed away peacefully on Sunday surrounded by love and family. She was 82 at the time of her death in Salem.

Born April 5, 1933 in Valentine, Nebraska to Frank and Eva Pearl (Cuskie) Copeland, Bertha was one of nine children. Her family moved to North Marion, Oregon when Bertha was three and later relocated to Woodburn.

She met Calvin L. Walter while they were in high school, and married in 1951. Calvin was drafted into the U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War; upon his honorable discharge, he and Bertha made a home for their young family. The couple moved periodically until Calvin was hired by the Oregon State Police in 1952. They settled in Medford after starting a family in Milwaukie, Oregon and returned to northern Oregon in 1977.

Bertha is survived by her two children, Sharry (Sharon) Woodward and her husband, Doug of Salem, and Gary Walter and his wife, Tami, also of Salem; four grandchildren, Ryan and Scott Woodward of Salem, and Dani Walter of Seattle and Kailia Walter of Corvallis; two great-grandchildren, Chance and Jett; one sister, Beverly Renoud of Maryland; and one brother, Leroy Copeland of California.

She was employed for more than three decades by US Bank, and spent time at branches in Salem and Medford. But she was perhaps best known among family members and friends for being "crazy passionate" about football. She considered herself the No. 1 fan of, in order, the Seattle Seahawks, the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Oregon Ducks and the Medford Black Tornado.

At her request, there will be no public service. Private interment will be at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. Arrangements are by Restlawn Funeral Home in West Salem.

The family would like to thank Serenity Hospice for its kind and compassionate care during Bertha's last days.