Bertha Bencomo Cervantes' Obituary
Bertha (Bencomo) Cervantes (called Bertha), beloved wife, mother and grandmother, passed away on October 30, 2021. It was a peaceful passing at home. Bertha was born on April 17, 1926 in El Paso, Texas, to Manuela (Fierro) Bencomo and Juan Bencomo.
Bertha married Augustine (Augie) Cervantes on June 10, 1950 at St. Anthony’s Church in Los Angeles, California. They celebrated 71 years of marriage and their love was very much alive.
Our little Mama’s/Gramma’s loveable nature was only exceeded by the love she gave to all. She was a darling, with a quick wit, a great sense of humor, and able to turn a sour-faced stranger into a smiling one. She was very humble. One would not necessarily guess she was an avid reader with a great capacity for intellectual reasoning, for making connections and seeing consequences. Her interests were moral philosophy, theology, history, governance, politics, and religious devotional reading, and she loved music and culture. From this and the light of Faith, she gained great wisdom. Her greatest strength was her love for God and His Holy Church, for family and for country.
With great conviction of the importance of parental duty, she was diligent in educating her daughters in the Holy Faith, in the governance of our country and its founding in Christian principles, and in all that was good and wholesome. In all things, she was faithful to what was good, and she gave her children everything needed to live lives abundant in happiness, truth, beauty and goodness.
She prayed with fervor, and if you happened to overhear her, you might think she could see Jesus, Mary, the angels and the saints, as she spoke with them, holding a very real conversation.
Bertha is survived by her loving husband, Augustine, her three daughters and sons-in-law, Elena Cervantes, Irene and Uwe Hacke, Therese and Peter Kulda, by her four wonderful grandchildren, Stephen, Paul, James and Maureen Kulda, her dear sister Lily Valdes, her sister-in-law Tillie Bencomo, and many nephews and nieces. She is preceded in death by her parents, Manuela and Juan Bencomo, siblings and sisters/brothers-in-law, Mary and Manuel Esparza, Ernesto and Estella (Esparza) Bencomo, Dolores and Gustavo Esparza, John and Bertha (Robledo) Bencomo, Robert Bencomo, and Carlos Valdes.
The Holy Rosary will start at 6:30 pm on Friday, followed by a visitation on November 12, at Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home, 372 East 100 South, in Salt Lake City. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered with funeral at 10:00 am on Saturday, November 13, at St. John the Baptist Church, 300 Kimballs Lane, in Draper. Interment will take place at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 East 10600 South, in Sandy, under the care of Neil O’Donnell Funeral Home. A reception will follow in the school hall at St. John the Baptist Church.
The family thanks the nurses, physical therapists, nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants and various staff who provided compassionate, respectful advice, guidance and services in Bertha’s last months, including Taelyr, Clay, Julia and Cody from Envision Home Health, Michelle, Pam and Joan from Community Nursing Services, and Hannah and Sandra from Utah Mobile Physicians.
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