In Memoriam

Bertha F. Gregg Cain
April 17, 1916 - February 14, 2010

Bertha F. Gregg Cain, 93, of Waco, passed away Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, in a Waco nursing facility. Services will be 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at Lake Shore Baptist Church, 5801 Bishop Dr., with her son-in-law, Harry C. "Buddy" Powell, the Rev. Sharlande Sledge, and the Rev. Dorisanne Cooper officiating. A graveside service will be Friday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.

Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Blvd.

Bertha Cain was born April 17, 1916, in San Antonio, to Cora Elizabeth and Jesse Franklin Gregg. When she was a year old, her father, who was in the Army, was ordered to the Philippines. While the family was in the Philippines, Bertha's mother, Cora, died in the great flu epidemic of 1918. Her father brought the five children to the United States to stay with their maternal grandparents, the Delays, until he married Henrietta Beckelmann, a teacher, who assumed the awesome task of raising five Gregg children plus a son, Howard, born to their own marriage. As a child, Bertha began writing poetry, a lifelong passion.

The Gregg family lived in San Antonio until Bertha's father received orders for Panama. Bertha and her sister, Bernice, graduated from Balboa High School in Panama. Upon her father's approval, Bertha began nurse's training at Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio and graduated in 1938. While working at Brooke General Hospital, she met a young officer who kept having headaches and needed her attention.

She married the officer, Warren Earl Cain, in 1940. During World War II, Bertha followed Warren to duty stations in Alaska and California, where she nursed children on the post-polio ward in San Francisco, an experience she never forgot. After World War II was over, Bertha traveled with Warren to Germany, where he assisted in the War Crimes prosecution. In 1950, they returned to the United States, and Bertha's only child, Louise Ann, was born in 1951. Bertha and Louise lived in Waco with her sister, Eula Howell, and family while Warren was deployed in Korea. After Korea, Warren was ordered to Japan, where the family lived together. Warren finished his military career in Washington D.C. and El Paso, Texas. In 1960, Warren and Bertha retired to their home in San Antonio, where they raised their daughter, Louise, and enjoyed their rose garden. Bertha was a stay-at-home mother, who enjoyed cooking for her family, gardening, writing poetry, sewing, crocheting, and attending the many events of her church.

In 1993, after Warren died, Bertha moved to Waco to live with her daughter, Louise, and family. Later she moved to Stilwell Retirement Home, where she made many friends. During this time, Bertha was very proud of the two books of poetry that she published. In the past few years, Bertha also enjoyed sharing holidays with her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and extended family. Most recently, Bertha appreciated the kindness of her church members at Lake Shore Baptist Church and all the nurses and employees of Quality Care Nursing Home.

Bertha was preceded in death by her parents, Jesse and Cora Elizabeth Gregg; stepmother, Henrietta Louise Gregg; husband, Warren Earl Cain; her sisters, Eula Howell and husband, Hobson, Frances Black and husband, Henry, and Bernice Hileman, and husband, Russell; brothers, Jesse Franklin Gregg and wife, Marion, and Howard Gregg; and nephew, Earl Frank Howell and wife, Mary. She is survived by her only child, Louise Ann Powell, and husband, Buddy, of Galveston; grandchildren, John Andrew "Andy" Powell and wife, Michelle, of Waco, James Warren Powell and wife, Megan, of Round Rock, and Carrie Frances Powell Ingoldsby and husband, Michael, of Lewisburg, Pa.; great-grandchildren, Annabel Ingoldsby, Madelyn, Kathryn, Grayson, and Gavin Powell; sister-in-law, Mary Lou Gregg; nieces, Peggy Oliphint and husband, Keith, and Carol Gideon; nephew, Greg Howell and wife, Linda, and Douglas Cain and wife, Jeri; and many great nieces and nephews and friends. Pallbearers will be Andy Powell, James Powell, Michael Ingoldsby, Keith Oliphint, Greg Howell, and Bob Ford.

Memorials can be made to:
Meals & Wheels-We Deliver!, 501 West Waco Dr., Waco, 76707;
Salvation Army, International Disaster Relief Fund, P.O. Box 630728, Baltimore, MD, 21263-0728;
Samaritan's Purse Disaster Relief, P.O. Box 3000 Boone, NC, 28607-3000;
Lake Shore Baptist Church, 5801 Bishop, Waco, Texas, 76710;
or Stilwell Memorial Residence, 5400 Laurel Lake, Waco, 76710.


Published in Waco Tribune-Herald on February 15, 2010