Bertha Renfro: A long life loving dogs

For more than 20 years, Bertha Mae Renfro took care of dogs. Dogs no one else wanted — mutts. She ran the no-kill Humane Society in Pend Oreille County, Wash., from her 60s to mid-80s.

Bertha loved dogs. They say living with a pet will extend your life and make you a better person. Of course, Bertha has been blessed by hundreds, if not thousands, of dogs over the years. On March 23, she turned 100.

Today, Bertha lives at the Bee Hive Homes assisted living center in Columbia Falls so she can be closer to her grandson Charles and his wife Hope. Charles is a landscaper. Hope is the manager of Super 1 Foods in Columbia Falls. Bertha moved to Montana about 16 years ago and lived in Lakeside most of those years.

Charles said his grandmother had her driver’s license until she was 97, but a stroke ended her driving. Bertha fell and broke her hip a little more than a year ago. Still, she recovered and walks today. The stroke may have slowed her a bit, but Bertha’s still lucid and independent.

Bertha was born in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. Her family farmed and tended a herd of about 300 sheep, she recalled. She grew up in Spokane, Wash., and married and had two boys. Her husband went off to the Pacific Theater in World War II. When he came home, he told her he was marrying another woman. So she raised her two boys by herself and never remarried.

“I had enough,” she said.

Bertha developed film for General Electric. She worked in a darkroom but wasn’t much into photography herself.

Her favorite food is fried chicken. She doesn’t much care for hamburgers. Never smoked and never drank. She likes rock ‘n’ roll and Elvis Presley.

Her family and the dogs were comfort. Taking good care of all those animals after she retired was beneficial, Charles surmised.

“I believe that’s why she’s 100 years old,” he said.

Bertha’s 100th birthday request was a simple one.

“I wish everyone will be as happy and well as I have been,” she said.