- Date Of Birth: May 5, 1927
- Date Of Death: November 10, 2016
- State: Idaho
Bertha Marie Johanson was born in Highland Park, Michigan, on May 5, 1927 to Mary Ellen (Shuell) and Per Olaf Johanson. The family lived in the house Per built in Detroit, Michigan until 1938, when they moved to Idaho to be near Per’s family. Per and Ellen purchased a farm in Arena Valley near Wilder. Bertha walked to the two-room school in Arena Valley to attend grades 6, 7 and 8. She attended high school in Wilder and graduated May 18, 1945.
She worked in the fields during the summers. In June of 1945, she went to work for Mr. H.G. Peckham of Wilder, doing secretarial work and weighing trucks hauling coal, etc. She drove her father’s 1929 Ford two-door to work.
In the spring of 1946, Bertha moved to Caldwell and started her new job at the First National Bank of Caldwell in the bookkeeping department and then worked in several other areas. She quit in the fall of 1950.
Bertha and Larry Tarr were married May 24, 1948 by Bertha’s uncle, Reverend E. W. Stuchbery at the Tom Tarr homestead near Wilder. They lived in Caldwell for about a year and then moved back to Wilder on Albert Paulsen’s farm. A daughter, Cheryl, was born on Mother’s Day, May 13, 1951. In 1952, the family moved down the road to the George English place. A son, Howard, was born on July 14, 1953, which was also Grandpa Per and Grandma Ellen’s 31st wedding anniversary. They bought a 40-acre farm in Arena Valley in the fall of 1956. A daughter, Nancy, was born on September 17, 1958.
They sold the house and farm on Red Top Road in August 2004 and moved to Silvercrest II in Nampa, Idaho, where they enjoyed the daily activities and the people. Larry passed away on March 17, 2013.
In August 2016, Bertha moved into Heron Place, an assisted living facility in Nampa, Idaho. She passed away peacefully in her room on November 10, 2016.
Bertha was preceded in death by her parents and her husband. She is survived by daughter, Cheryl Taylor; son, Howard Tarr and wife, Jean; daughter, Nancy Justice and husband, Ken; 7 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 3 great, great-grandchildren.
The family would like to thank the employees at Heron Place and Horizon Home Health and Hospice for the special work that they do.
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