Sister Bertha Zeiser, OSF, 105, of Clinton, Iowa passed away Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at The Alverno. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, June 17, at The Canticle with Fr. Jim Bergin, SVD presiding. A visitation will occur Thursday, June 16, from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at The Canticle, with a rosary at 4:00 p.m. and scripture service at 6:00 p.m. Pallbearers include relatives, friends and members of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa. Burial will take place at St. Irenaeus Calvary Cemetery, Clinton. Lemke Funeral Homes is assisting with the arrangements.
Sister Bertha was born February 25, 1911, at Browns, Iowa,(near Preston) the daughter of Frank and Loretta (Fier) Zeiser. After her early schooling at St. Joseph's School in Browns and Mount St. Clare Academy, she entered the congregation of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa, on July 7, 1929. She received the name Mary Rupert , later resuming her baptismal name. Sister Bertha graduated from Mount St. Clare College and pursued further study at De Paul University, Chicago; Catholic University of America, Washington, DC; and Stanford University, California.
Sister Bertha was a high school teacher and principal at Mount St. Clare Academy, Clinton, and in high schools in Victor, Iowa, and Lexington, Nebraska. She also taught in Fonda, Iowa, Chicago and Oak Lawn, Illinois.
After retiring from full-time classroom teaching in 1980, she assisted for five years with the Clinton Community College English as a Second Language Program, working with adult Southeast Asian refugees. Her last mission was in Reedley, California, where she served as receptionist at St. Anthony Parish, 1985-1995.
Sister Bertha retired in 1995 and then tutored an Arch core member until the fall of 2010. She moved to The Alverno in March, 2012.
She is survived by several cousins, three generations of nieces and nephews, and by her Clinton Franciscan sisters with whom she shared life for 87 years.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings and their spouses, brothers Francis (Bea) and Edward (Jean) Zeiser , and a sister, Genevieve ( Don )Leonard.

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