KEESEVILLE — Roberta Bell, 65, of 1310 Trout Pond Rd, Chesterfield died peacefully at home Thursday Jan. 31, 2013 with her loving husband of 28 years, Walter "Henny" Morse, at her side. Born July 28, 1947 in Minneapolis, Minn., she was the daughter of Robert Thompson Bell and Catharine Neumeier Bell.
Bertie spent most of her childhood in various small towns on the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minn. where she developed a lifelong love of the outdoors. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a BA in sociology and was employed by various agencies as a social worker in N.H. and N.Y. State. Bertie and Henny, lived in Wilmot Flat, N.H. from 1977-2002, and then moved to the Lake Champlain area. Bertie loved sailing on Lake Champlain with Henny and their cat, Augusta. She also enjoyed flower gardening, camping, swimming, skiing, and canoeing. Bertie was small in stature, but great in spirit, and lived for six years after being diagnosed with a grade IV brain tumor.
Bertie is survived by her husband, Walter Morse, her mother, Catharine Bell of Bayport, Minn., her sister, Jo Bell Whitlatch (Norm) of Menlo Park, Calif., her niece, Catharine Lauderbaugh (Alex) of Boulder, Colo. and her stepchildren, Roger Morse of Seattle, Wash. and Bethany Luke of Federal Way, Wash.
A memorial service commemorating her life will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 8 at Thwaits-Zaumetzer Funeral Home, 3 College Street, Au Sable Forks, N.Y. Memorial donations may be directed to Hospice of the North Country, P.O. Box 192, Port Henry, NY 12974 (www.hphpc.org) or the North Country SPCA, 23 Lakeshore Road, Westport, NY 12993 (www.ncspca.org).
