Bertha P. Sweeney

Bertha Sweeney, 94, of Ubly, died on Friday, February 15, 2013 at Courtney Manor Nursing Home in Bad Axe. She was born on Good Friday, March 29, 1918 in Paris Township, Huron County, to Martin and Anna Sofka. She attended a one room rural school house in the Ubly area before moving to the Detroit area to work in her late teens and early twenties. On Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1942, she married Martin Sweeney and began a life of farming in Huron and Sanilac counties. Bertha raised chickens, sold eggs, had a bountiful garden every year, always baked her own bread, sewed most of the clothes for her growing family and made many beautiful quilts. She was an active member of St. Columkille Catholic Church where she served as president of the Christian Mothers and spent many hours performing charitable works and visiting the sick. In her later years she and Martin wintered in Bradenton, Florida where she learned a new hobby, painting. Bertha was an avid reader her whole life and in her final years at Courtney Manor she could always be found with a book in her lap. Bertha is survived by her children: Kathryn (Michael) Taff of Rainbow City, Alabama; Nancy (Thomas) Collins of Allegan, Michigan; Brian (Sally) Sweeney of Ubly; and Kevin Sweeney of South Lyon, Michigan; her seven grandchildren: Julie, Jennifer, J. Stewart, Sara, Janice, Paula, and Roger; 17 great grandchildren; one sister-in-law, Virginia Sweeney; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Martin; and her three siblings: Adrianna Wasierski, Henry Sofka, and Marcella Cieslinski. Mass of Christian burial will be 11 am Saturday, February 23, 2013 at St. Columbkille Catholic Church in Sheridan Corners. Rev. Joseph Griffin, pastor, will officiate. Burial will be in the church cemetery in the spring. Visitation will be at the Zinger-Smigielski Funeral Home in Ubly on Friday from 2-9 pm and on Saturday from 10-11 am at the church only. There will be a parish vigil service Friday evening at 7 pm at the funeral home. Memorials have been requested to the Courtney Manor Activities Fund.