Beloved Bertha Seaman Stromberg died of natural causes in Salt Lake City on February 6, 2014. She was born December 25, 1910, in Panguitch, Utah, to Frank W. and Lena I. Seaman. She married Noel L. Stromberg of Grantsville, Utah on February 24, 1936 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.
The people and places she held in fondest memory over her 103 year life were her family and her growing up years in Southern Utah. Her father was the first US Forest Ranger in that region. Her entire family joined him at Ranger Stations during the summer months on the mountains of the Dixie National Forest.The station they returned to most frequently was the Lowder Ranger Station above Cedar Breaks (a miniature Bryce Canyon). The Station had no electricity and no running water, but the kids could manage a lot of play and mischief in between the many chores that go with living so simply. Over time there were 10 Seaman children "on the mountain" each summer, including two sets of twins.
When Bertha was 13 years old (1923), after the summer stay at the Lowder Ranger Station, the family moved to Cedar City, Utah rather than returning to their previous home in Panguitch. As part of the move, Bertha and her younger sister Kerstine drove the family cows, Pansy and Fairy, across the meadows, past Cedar Breaks and down Cedar Canyon to the new home in Cedar City. Bertha has said many time that job was for adults. Nonetheless, from sunrise to sunset those two young girls drove the two cattle down the mountain. Bertha was terrified the entire time. All, including Pansy and Fairy, survived.
Bertha graduated from what was then called the Branch Agricultural College in Cedar City (now University of Southern Utah). She worked in Cedar City following her graduation and met Noel at a church dance while he worked there as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps. After their marriage, she and Noel lived briefly in Park City, and Ogden . They moved to Browning Avenue in Salt Lake City in 1946 and made a life there with their son Kirk.
Bertha was active in the LDS Church and in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers (DUP). She served as Relief Society President of the Emerson Ward (Sugar House Stake) and in many other callings. Over her years in DUP she held many offices, including Camp Captain, of the Kennedy Ditch Camp.
She was a devoted homemaker and perfected domestic arts. Her passion was genealogy. She worked on both her own line and on her husband's. They were able to travel to the towns and villages in Sweden and Denmark that their parents and grandparents had left to make the migration to Utah during pioneer times. Her Books of Remembrance and biography sketches took up several feet of shelf space and were prominently displayed at her home.
Bertha is survived by her son Kirk (wife Linda Goold) of Bethesda, MD. Bertha was known as the peacemaker among the ten Seaman children. Two her siblings survive her, Alice Tuckett of Cedar City and Dawn Ann Bailey of Salt Lake City. Numerous nieces and nephews remember her amazing cooking and her never-failing kindness. For many of them, particularly Janine Sheldon and Renee Fitzpatrick, treasure her as a surrogate grandmother. All treasure her example of a life well-lived.
A Memorial Service will be held at Little America Hotel on Thursday February 13, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. Private entombment at Wasatch Law Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the University of Utah Medical Center Research Division, 50 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84132.
