- Date Of Birth: March 2, 1933
- Date Of Death: March 11, 2021
- State: Michigan
Berdella Adelaide (Darnell) Root
Berdella was born March 2, 1933, the youngest of eight, to Ray and Adelaide Darnell in Weidman, Michigan. She passed peacefully to Heaven on March 11, 2021 surrounded by family after a courageous battle with declining health.
She graduated from Weidman High School in 1951. On July 4, 1952 Berdella married her love and best friend, Duane Root, and the fireworks began. Three children followed: Ann (Rod) Robinson, Mike (Sandy) Root, and Kim (Jim) Lynch. The adventures she and her family shared were many – from camping all over Michigan and points beyond to simple joys like reading to her kids, and many of their friends, every summer day at lunch. She was a Girl Scout leader for both of her daughters.
Berdella worked for 25 years for the Flint Board of Education and was a member of the Paris Methodist Church. She had friends from many places; wherever Berdella went she collected people.
She enjoyed camping, fishing, cooking, sewing, and painting, but most of all she loved traveling and dancing. She and Duane began square dancing and round dancing in 1961 and never looked back. By 1981 they decided to clog, and in her typical way, she taught herself and Duane from books and magazines. Soon, they were teaching others and it snowballed to classes in several locations.
Their dance troupe – the Katy-Did Cloggers – performed all over Michigan, the United States, and then around the world. Berdella and Duane danced on a float for the 2002 July 4th parade in Washington DC, their fiftieth anniversary; danced in Australia, New Zealand, on many cruises, and on a five city tour in Austria at the invitation of the mayor of Innsbruck.
They travelled to Ireland, Scotland, and many parts of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Until the end she never slowed down – she was a powerhouse in a petite package.
Berdella is survived by Duane, her husband for over sixty-eight years, her children and their spouses, ten grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, her three sisters and four brothers.
