Velma Ruth Bertelmann

VELMA RUTH CLEAVER BERTELMANN was born on Culpepper Mountain near Clinton, Arkansas on March 6, 1929.  Her parents were George Dewey and Delsa Osborn Cleaver.  She passed to her Heavenly home on May 25, 2023.

Visitation:  9:00 – 9:45 a.m., Thursday, June 1, 2023 at Biggers Funeral Home.

Graveside Service:  11:00 a.m. Thursday, June 1, 2023 at Saginaw Cemetery, Saginaw, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorials to the Saginaw Cemetery Association at P.O. Box 79322, Saginaw, TX 76179 or to Beyond Faith Hospice, LLC, 804 Santa Fe, Suite 100B, Weatherford, TX 76086.

She graduated from Clinton High School in 1946.  Then on February 7, 1948, she married Roy K. Bertelmann and that marriage lasted for 73 years until Roy’s passing in 2021.  To that marriage were born Reva Kay Binning (Dan), Alton Edward Bertelmann (Nancy), and James Randall Bertelmann (Faye).

Velma spent most of her life as a housewife and mother, packing up their belongings every few years to follow Roy to stations all over the world during his Air Force career.  When he retired in 1968, they settled in Goleta, California until 1984 when they moved to Edmond, Oklahoma.  In 1995 they moved to Clinton, Mississippi and then in 2007 to Saginaw, Texas.  By 2015, Roy felt that she needed more help and less housework, so they sold their home and moved to Westmore Senior Living in Westworth Village.  In 2020 they moved one last time to Legacy Oaks in Azle where she was living at the time of her passing.

Velma loved to cook, especially when she had a large group of family members to feed.  She enjoyed sewing and artwork of many different kinds. She also was an avid reader until her memory began to fade in 2019.

Velma was a Bible-believing Christian, having accepted Jesus as her Savior early in life.  She enjoyed helping with church dinners and projects and attending services and Bible studies.  For many years, she and Roy read the Bible through together every year.

At one time or another, she babysat each of her four granddaughters.  They all hold fond memories of those times at Mimi’s house.

Velma was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her three sisters, three of her four brothers, one granddaughter, Dawn Friedrich, and one great grandson, Chance.

She is survived by her three children and their spouses, one brother, Doyle Cleaver of Kansas City, Kansas, three granddaughters, Dawn’s husband John, three great granddaughters, one step-grandson, and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.