In Memory

Elizabeth 'Bette' Good (Bertch) - Class Of 1940

Elizabeth 'Bette' Good (Bertch)

Elizabeth Jane Good Bertch, born September 10, 1922 in Los Angeles, passed away surrounded by loved ones on October 17, 2015. Bette graduated high school in South Pasadena in 1940 and attended Pasadena City College. She put her education on hold during the World War II years and later to raise three daughters in South Pasadena and San Marino with her husband, George Bertch (SPHS '39).

Bette returned to college in the late 1960s, completing her bachelor's degree at Cal State Los Angeles and in 1971 earned her master's degree in Library Science from USC. For 17 years she worked as a District Librarian for the Alhambra Unified School District, where she relished the challenge of overseeing 13 school libraries for kindergarten through eighth grade students. In her early years she joined her mother, Mary Good, as an active member of the Camp Fire Girls, later becoming a camp counselor and group leader. While living in San Marino, Bette was a member of the Board of Trustees for the San Marino Public Library.

After George passed away in 1987 she began a new chapter in her life. She enjoyed many trips to national library conventions and several trips throughout Europe with friends. In 1997 Bette moved to the seaside community of Avila Beach. There she made many new friends in her Mallard Green neighborhood and actively participated in the Monday Club and the San Luis Obispo Genealogy Society, where she worked extensively with daughters Deborah and Alison to explore and document family history. People who knew Bette will recall her fondly as a kind and caring person with a bright smile and beautiful blue eyes, who was always interested in their lives and concerned for their welfare. She was someone who appreciated color and beauty in everything she saw, whether it was works of art, music, or nature. She was particularly fond of Asian culture and artwork, and spent many happy days at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena and studying Chinese brush-painting at the Huntington Library.

Bette is survived by her daughters:  Deborah Bertch Schlanser, Alison (Michael) Collins, and Meredith (Scot) Obler; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

South Pasadena Review, October 29, 2015