Article from First Magazine June 9 , 2003

By grand-daughter Cindy (Marshall) Ludy
Click on image to enlarge



He Will Remember

He will remember how she looked before us

He will remember her chuckling laugh

He will remember how she reached to hug you with both hands

how she stood by the door to watch you drive past as you left

He will remember that her door was always as open as her heart

He will remember how she cared for so many and loved them all

He will remember even if we forget all these things

He will remember the love she had for Him and faith she showed

He will remember how she said "blood is thicker than water"

maybe that's why when she leaves, we bleed

By Great-grandson; Tim Ludy

BERTHA RAMSER - EVERYONE'S GRANDMA

Bertha

16 YEARS AGO MOST OF US WERE HERE TO SAY GOODBYE TO EARL RAMSER,  MY GRANDPA,.. EVERYONE HAD A GRANDPA EARL, FUNNY STORY.

NOW WE COME HERE TODAY TO SAY GOODBYE TO HIS WIFE, MY GRANDMOTHER.  EVERYONE HERE NOT ONLY HAS A HEART WARMING STORY TO  REMEMBER ABOUT HER.  BUT TO HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE THAT SHE WASN'T EVEN RELATED TO, SHE WAS THE DEFINITION OF GRANDMA.

8 YEARS AGO MY SISTER CINDY HAD TO DO AN ESSAY FOR COLLEGE CREDIT ABOUT SOMEONE THAT TOUCHED HER LIFE.  OF COURSE THAT SOMEONE WAS GRNDMA BERTHA.

SHE WOULD LIKE TO READ THAT FOR YOU NOW.

{CINDY}

WHEN I THINK OF GRANDMA THE SCRIPTURE AT GALATIONS 6:9 COMES TO MIND

(Galatians 6:9) So let us not give up in doing what is fine, for in due season we shall reap if we do not tire out.

GRANDMA SPENT HER LIFE EVERY DAY DOING FINE AND GOOD THINGS.  ALWAYS THINKING OF OTHERS AND MAKING PEOPLE FEEL BETTER.

EARL AND BERTHA RAMSER HAD 3 CHILDREN.

NORMAN, WHO DIED AT 6 MONTHS OF AGE.

PEGGY,  WHO IS MY MOTHER.

RICHARD JOHN, MY UNCLE

PEGGY HAD FOUR CHILDREN

MYSELF, JEFF MARSHALL

CINDY LUDY

KIM BELLO

JOSHUA KAPP

RICHARD JOHN (JACK)  HAD 4 CHILDREN

ROBERT RAMSER

RICK RAMSER

BARBARA MURPHY

LARRY RAMSER

I HAD 3 CHILDREN

JASON MARSHALL

DEVON HERSHBERGER

CARRIE DWYER

CINDY LUDY HAD 3 CHILDREN

JOLEEN LUDY

TIM LUDY

LAURA LUDY

KIM BELLO HAD 1 CHILD

GABRIEL BELLO

JOSH KAPP HAD 1 CHILD

LAYNE KAPP

BOBBY RAMSER HAD 2 CHILDREN

ROBBIE RAMSER

REBBECCA RAMSER

BARBARA MURPHY HAD 2 CHILDREN

ADAM MURPHY

AMANDA  MURPHY

JASON MARSHALL HAD 1 CHILD

KELLEN MARSHALL

DEVON HERSHBERGER HAS 1 CHILD , WITH 1 ON THE WAY

JADE HERSHBERGER

RAINA HERSHBERGER

CARRIE DWYER HAD 1 CHILD

CHANCE ACKER

THAT'S 3 CHILDREN; 8 GRANDCHILDREN; 11 GREAT GRANDCHILDREN;  AND 3 1/2 GREAT GREAT GRAND CHILDREN SO FAR.

EVERYONE HERE COULD WRITE A FAMILY TREE LIKE THIS BUT WHAT IS TRULY REMARKABLE ABOUT GRANDMA BERTHA IS THAT THERE ARE MANY TIMES  THIS NUMBER, THAT,  ARE HER CHILDREN, AND GRANDCHILDREN IF NOT IN FACT BUT IN TRUTH.  AS SHE WAS STARTING HER FAMILY , AS WE HEARD,  SHE TOOK IN HER YOUNG SIBLINGS.  AS TIME WENT BY PEOPLE THAT FACED PROBLEMS IN THEIR LIVE COULD TURN TO HER FOR HELP.  SHE HELPED RAISE HER BROTHER MERLE'S CHILDREN AFTER HE DIED.

GRANDMA PASSED ON THIS LEGASY OF CARING.  WHEN MY UNCLE MERLE DIED, CINDY AND HER HUSBAND PETE FOLLOWING IN GRANDMA'S FOOTSTEPS TOOK MERLE'S YOUNGEST CHILD , CHERI INTO HER HOME.  NOW CHERI HAS 4 CHILDREN, BRYAN, BRANDON, BROOKE, & BRENNON. AND CINDY IS THEIR GRANDMA JUST LIKE GRANDMA BERTHA.  GRANDMA HERSELF TOOK LISA INTO HER HOME AFTER HER FATHER DIED THEN MY SISTER KIM TOOK LISA INTO HER HOME FOR 3 YEARS.  LISA HAS 2 CHILDREN JOE, AND RYAN.  MY UNCLE JACK AND HIS WIFE JOANNE TOOK THEIR SISTER KAREN INTO THERE HOME UNTIL SHE GOT MARRIED AND SHE HAS ONE SON JIMMY JOE.

  MANY TIME OVER THE YEARS SHE TOOK IN CHILDREN, THAT WERE NOT HER BLOOD,  WHEN THEIR PARENTS WERE DIVORCED OR HOSPITALIZED.  FOR A WHILE WHEN HE WAS A BOY, MY GRANDMOTHER HAD SO MANY PEOPLE LIVING IN HER HOUSE THAT MY UNCLE SLEPT IN THE ATTIC.

WE COULD GO ON AND RECOUNT MANY TALES OF LOVE AND SUPPORT ABOUT EVERYONE'S GRANDMA BERTHA,  BUT I THINK A POEM COMPOSED BY HER GREAT GRANDSON TIM, AND READ FOR YOU BY HER GRANDDAUGHTER KIM SUMS UP HOW WE ALL FEEL.

687 West Main Street

A Summer Memory

You always felt welcome at 687 West Main

Grandma Bertha greeted us in her apron with big hugs

Grandpa Earl would yell in his big voice from the back yard

“Come help in the Garden”...The Garden was very large....

And Grandma would intercede for us

“Oh Earl, for heavens sakes they just got here....

Grandma always did that.

She gave us glasses of lemonade that she filled by scooping out of a large antique bowl on the kitchen counter...

It would crackle as it poured over the ice in our glass.

Grandpa would yell again from the garden

“Come on, we are all going to eat from this garden”..

Grandma would then say go ahead and help Grandpa

It will be just for a short while.

I feel the hardest thing in life is to lose someone that you know loves you more than you do yourself; this is such a precious gift.  This is my Grandma Bertha.