Bertha was born on May 8, 1886 in Fertile, Minnesota. She was the oldest of seven children.

Bertha didn’t finish the 8th grade. She learned reading, writing and arithmetic to satisfy the requirements of those early days. She and her siblings had to walk to school, sometimes braving deep (chest high) snow. She attended Roadside School District 113.

Her parents had come from Norway and homesteaded near Fertile, in northwestern Minnesota where she was raised. Bertha learned to work and bear responsibility from a very young age. She cared for the babies while her mother, Hanna tended to her duties like milking the cows. Bertha baked bread and had many other chores in support of her family.