Bertha W. Allen, 100, who loved adventure and traveled the world, died Monday in MedBridge in Westmont. Born in Dundee, Ohio, Mrs. Allen began teaching at age 16. She took time out to earn her degree at Wooster College, then returned to teaching, working at high schools in Montana and Arizona. When her husband took a job in the mining industry, the couple moved to Fresnillo, Mexico, where they lived for 35 years. Mrs. Allen tutored students and gave piano lessons. She helped found a small Protestant church in Fresnillo, which she supported throughout her life. After her husband’s death in 1959, she lived briefly in Chicago, then New York, before settling back in the Beverly neighborhood, where she was a substitute teacher for 20 more years. “She made friends very easily, and she liked to see what other places looked like,” said her daughter, Jean Robinson. “She would do anything while she was healthy and strong, which she was until she was about 85.” Mrs. Allen is also survived by three granddaughters and six great-grandchildren. Services will be private.
