Bertie was born January 6, 1941, at Hamburg, Iowa, and passed into the loving arms of Jesus Christ on August 16, 2023, at the age of 82.
When Bertie was born, her parents, Albert and Ethel (Morgan) Herron, lived on a farm northwest of Rock Port, Missouri. Bertie attended Lone Cedar School and Rock Port R-II High School, graduating in 1959. She then attended Northwest Missouri State University.
Bertie moved to Shenandoah, Iowa, in 1960 and worked for both Montgomery Ward and Henry Field. She and Rita Garst Vance shared an apartment during those early years and a lot of cherished memories were made with both Rita and their friend Judy Bradley. Bertie then moved to Clarinda, Iowa, and worked for the Clarinda Company, a book publisher, and Creston, Iowa, before marrying Marvin Stoaks in April 1964. Their daughter Lisa was born the next year. The family moved to Maryville, Missouri, in 1968, and Bertie worked for the Maryville R-II school district for seven years. She and Marvin divorced in 1972.
In 1975, Bertie married Bert Pierson and moved to Smithville, Missouri. There she worked for Superior Bowen Asphalt Company for 20 years and, during her time in Smithville, she served on the Smithville R-II Board of Education and the Northwest Missouri regional executive committee of the Missouri School Boards Association. After divorcing Bert in 1994 and retiring from Superior Bowen in 2011, Bertie moved back to Rock Port and became active in the Linden Christian Church community.
Bertie is survived by her daughter Lisa Long and Lisa's husband Marc of Yankton, South Dakota, and their children, Alex Long (wife Haley Canaday) of Englewood, Colorado, and Andrew Long of Hallsville, Missouri. In addition, Bertie is survived by her sister Martha Walter (husband John) of Grandview, Missouri, and niece Julie Walter Davis of Kansas City and grandnephews Adam Davis (wife Courtney) of Chicago, Illinois, and Ben Davis (wife Mandi) and their sons Hunter, Carter and John Parker of Kansas City, Missouri. She also appreciated the warmth of many cousins and friends after moving to Rock Port.
Bertie would like to be remembered for being a good friend. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Linden Christian Church or the Bertie Stephens Educational Trust at Citizens Bank and Trust in Rock Port.
Funeral services: Monday, August 21, 2023, 11:00 am, Linden Christian Church. Family will greet friends at the church one hour prior to services. Interment: Grange Hall Cemetery.
