LaVera May (Long) Bertholf was born in a dugout May 20, 1918 in Sublette, KS to William Henry Long and Emily Isabel (Brown) Long. She was raised in Harper, KS by her mother and grandmother, Mary Ann Brown, and graduated from Harper HS in 1936. After attending Business College in Wichita she married Jack Bertholf on January 18, 1941. They lived on a farm northwest of Spivey before moving to a farm northwest of Attica in 1948. Their farm was one of the last in the area to get electricity so they didn't have running water in the house for a few more years. For several years she carpooled with the Schroth's to take the kids to school in Attica; she drove in the morning and Mrs. Schroth brought them home after school. Besides the household tasks, she was Jack's assistant doing farm chores. She and Jack were active in a community card club and in the Attica Saddle Club, where she served as Treasurer for several years. They were also members of the Attica Methodist Church. She attended all the children's activities regularly taking a car load of kids to track meets and basketball games. After the kids were grown, they enjoyed traveling with their neighbors George and Eva Miller. After Jack's death in 2001, she stayed on the farm until 2009 when she was reluctantly persuaded to move to Country Living in Anthony, where she lived until her death on May 4, 2017.

She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Mary Ann (Russell) Brown; her parents: W.H. Long and Emily Long; her brothers: Charles, Harlin and Ellis and their wives; infant sister, Mary Lenore; and half-sisters: Helen Gauger and Ethel May. She is survived by her children: Dennis Bertholf and his wife Loretta of Stillwater, OK, Dean Bertholf and his wife Pat of Anthony KS, and LuAnn Turner and her husband Jack of Lakewood, CO; grandchildren: Lori Coleman, Lynne Bertholf, Dually Bertholf, David Bertholf, Dan Bertholf, Lindsay Kelley, Jeff Turner; and great-grandchildren: Dillon Bertholf, Dailey Bertholf, Brook Bertholf, Sam Bertholf, Abby Bertholf, Elly Bertholf, Logan Bertholf, Courtney Coleman and Tyler Coleman.

Funeral services will be held 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 7, 2017 at Prairie Rose Funeral Home in Anthony with Pastor Kim Martin officiating. A private burial will be held at the Harper Cemetery.

Visitation will be held 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday at Prairie Rose in Anthony.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Country Living, Heartland Hospice or the Servants of Christ (a ministry led by LuAnn in Denver), and may be sent in care of the funeral home.

Prairie Rose Funeral Homes, 602 E. Main St., Anthony, KS 67003, is in charge of arrangements.