Dorothy Illene Bertrand, 89, of Arkansas City, passed away on Wednesday, March 14, at Presbyterian Manor of Arkansas City.
Cremation has taken place and her remains will be interred at Prairie Lawn Cemetery in Wellington. To send a condolence, please visit www.shelleyfamilyfh.com.
Dorothy was born on January 27, 1929 on a farm northwest of Arkansas City, the daughter of Howard “Pete” and Hazel (Symons) Coulson. Dorothy attended the Lonestar #44 Country School from first to eighth grade. She graduated from Geuda Springs High School in 1947. She attended one semester at Arkansas City High School due to the flood that took the Geuda bridge out. Dorothy was a member of the Central Christian Church. She also worked at the City of Wellington at the time of her retirement in 1991. Dorothy married Dewey Beck, Jr. in 1947 and they later divorced. On August 3, 1974, she married William “Bill” Bertrand in Wellington. Dorothy and Bill built their “A” frame house and lived there for 19 years. After the death of her husband, Bill, she returned to Arkansas City in 1993.
Her family includes her daughters; Cathryn Beck Stevens and Carol Beck Jones; sister, Joan Smyer; stepson, Alan Bertrand and wife Teresa; granddaughter, Gina Probst, 5 step-grandchildren and 6 step great-grandchildren. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a sister, Norma Iman, 3 grandsons and step-daughter Lynda Hacker as well as a dear friend and companion, Clovis Strange.