Even though she lived life as if she were immortal, Bertha Marie Ward (Sherrill), 86, passed away peacefully on Monday, January 25, 2010, surrounded by her family;

son, Martin L. Morris (Sara), Seattle, WA.; daughters,  Dorothy M. McDonald (Del), Wendover, NV.  And Janie B. Morris, Boise, ID.  She was born fifth to Walter and Dorothy Sherrill into what would become a large family of nine siblings in Horseshoe Bend, ID., on March 31, 1923.  Bertha was a liberated woman long before “women’s lib” came along.  She firmly believed she could out shoot, out hunt and out fish any man alive and she usually did exactly that.  She knew the best Idaho hunting and fishing spots and through summers spent camping up and down the state; she passed on her lifelong passion for the outdoors to her children and her grandchildren.  Bertha was a talented artist, well known for her oil paintings of the wild life of Idaho that she grew up with.  The elk, deer and bear, even the “camp robbing” chipmunks in her drawings and paintings, were so detailed and life like that you could almost feel the wind ruffling their fur.  When her physical condition began to limit her ability to work at her easel, she transferred her painting skills to a new medium-ceramics.  She won many awards for her native American Indian figures, eventually selling pieces to collectors as far away as Germany and Russia.  She is survived by her brothers Jim Sherrill and Bob Sherrill, Boise, ID.; sisters Hazel Engels and Loberta Jones, Boise, ID., and Vivian Slaughter, Coeur d’Alene, ID.; nieces and nephews to numerous to list, five grand children, thirteen great grandchildren, thirteen great, great grand children and one great, great, great grandchild.  A memorial service will be held in the near future.  In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to either the Humane Society of Idaho or to your favorite charity in her name. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Accent Funeral Home, Meridian.