IONE BERTSCH

Ione Bertsch died on December 14th, 2022 at the age of 99. She was at her home in Irvine, California with her son Dean by her side. She passed away peacefully in her sleep from old age. Her cremated remains will be buried at the Wagner Cemetery later in 2023. A religious graveside service is planned for Ione, who was a life-long Roman Catholic.

Ione was born November 9th, 1923 at her home two and one fourth miles south of Wagner. Although she grew up during The Great Depression, she never felt deprived of anything. She also regarded herself lucky to have very loving parents and siblings. Her parents Adam William “Ed” and Mary Amelia (Reinhart) Yungbluth (lived to age 96) were farmers. She had two older siblings, Loysen (also lived to age 96) and Thelda (now 100-years-old) and two younger siblings, Donald and Carol. Thelda and Ione were especially close all of their lives. Ione attended a one-room rural schoolhouse and then Wagner High School. She went to Springfield State College for one year, a teaching certificate, and then taught for a year.

While growing up Ione’s main leisure activities were Saturday nights in downtown Wagner, the movies, radio, and especially dancing. She went to two or three dances per week, mainly at ballrooms. Swing was a popular dance style, especially the jitterbug and foxtrot. However, wedding and house/barn dances were usually Bohemian polka bands and dancing. During World War II in Los Angeles she entertained servicemen by dancing with them as a USO Hostess. Ione also went to dances several times a week when she lived in West Palm Beach.

In June 1943 Ione moved to the Oceanside district of Los Angeles, California to live with her sister Thelda. Ione worked at The Santa Monica Newspaper. In 1945 she met Walter Leroy “Burly” Bertsch. They fell in love that first night. He was on furlough from the Air Corp of the U.S. Army. They married in August 1945 in San Antonio, Texas where Walter was stationed. They had four sons: Larry (deceased), Dean, Douglas (deceased), and Richard. Larry had two sons, Jeremy and Joshua. Richard had three children, Crystal, Brett (deceased), and Mitchell.

Walter’s and Ione’s ancestors were mainly German. They came from the Black Forest region in the early 1800s. Walter’s parents Edward and Katherine Bertsch lived in Salisbury, Missouri.

Ione’s paternal grandparents John and Sofie (Sterba) Youngbluth had a homestead a mile east of Wagner. Ione’s maternal grandparents Joseph and Helena (Reittenmaier) Reinhart were pioneers and owned thousands of acres of farmland, cattle, and race horses west of Wagner.

After World War II the couple moved to Santa Monica, California. She went back to work at the newspaper. In November 1948 they moved to Walter’s hometown to purchase and manage a restaurant. In February 1953 they moved to Wagner to buy the Wagner Announcer, a shopper paper. She continued to publish the paper after Walter died in October 1980. Ione was a much admired business woman. In 1989 she was named “Women of the Year” by the Wagner Business and Professional Club and “Honorary Parade Marshal'' for Wagner’s Labor Day. In 1991 she moved to a high-rise on the intercoastal in West Palm Beach, Florida. Then at age 77, she moved back to Southern California to live with her son Richard and his young children.