Thank you for the kind article about Bertha Toftey’s career with the News-Herald, and for the interview with Rhonda Silence on WTIP, following Bertha’s death on August 13.
The community embraced her when she married our dad, Ade, in 1937, and her long hours and many years with the newspaper provided her with friends throughout Cook County that lasted more than 75 years.
Press night for them was Wednesday. We children were always on our own for dinner, since those nights were very late. We can still envision men such as Dick Gilbertsen, Lou Terrizzi, and John Spelman running the press and linotype; Ray Olsen printing mailing labels; Alma Olsen (and many more) using her comb to help her fold the papers by hand; Dad making lastminute proofreading changes; and Mom running to Jackson’s Dairy Queen to buy Dilly bars for the press night crew, during those days when she hadn’t baked an apple pie.
We continue to be proud of the wonderful local coverage of the Cook County News-Herald.
Tom Toftey
Sue Toftey Hildebrand
Joan Toftey Schroeder
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