Family to celebrate Berti Runyon's 95th birthday
The children of Bertha Mae "Berti" Miller Runyon will help her celebrate her 95th birthday on Jan. 1, 2024.
Runyon grew up in Sebring during the Great Depression and was the town's first New Year’s baby of 1929, born to parents Ruth (Christy) and Homer Miller. She had two sisters, Betty and Pauline, and a brother named Richard.
Berti was the only child in her family to graduate from high school, as salutatorian for Sebring McKinley's Class of 1946.
An avid reader, she would read two or three books per week.
Berti Miller and Harry “Sonny” Runyon married in 1946, shortly after Berti’s graduation. The couple had nine children – Dana, Pat, Harry Jr., Peg, Sue, Rosemary, Joe, Lorry and Marty. Dana and Pat are deceased.
The couple’s surviving children shared some recollections of their mother’s life:
“This remarkable woman somehow found a way to raise all of us with a commitment that we can only now appreciate and understand. Our daily lives were structured, and we give Mom the credit for keeping order in our household. Meals were at scheduled times, and, yes, we all sat down together for meals. Chores were assigned, homework, bedtime – all scheduled. And we grew up to be respectful, responsible and hard-working adults. Kudos to Mom for teaching us those important attributes. The examples set by our parents taught us love and compassion, to always keep a sense of humor, and to work for what we wanted. Mom always had a love for flower gardening. Although she is no longer able to tend to her own flower beds, her love of flowers has never ended. It would be nice to let people know how tireless Mom was. She was the first one up every day, starting her day around 4:30 a.m., and the last person in the house to go to bed. Doing laundry with only a wringer washer and hanging clothes to dry all year round. Her "rest" was sitting and darning socks or hemming clothes by hand. Even with a couple babies in diapers (before Pampers), she had the cleanest house in town, and her family’s clothes were always properly washed, ironed and mended. Most days, her children walked home from school, and lunch was always waiting on the table. Dinner was always served promptly at 4:30 each day without error. Nobody ever worked harder or longer. We cannot give her enough credit, or too much praise for her exemplary work ethic and dedication to her family.”
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Berti Runyon of Sebring to mark 95th birthday
