Bernelda Lincoln (Ost) Roberts

Bernelda Roberts, 81, of LaCrosse, WI, died September 6, 1999 at Bethany St. Joseph Care Center in LaCrosse following a courageous battle with leukemia.

Memorial services will be held at Bethany St. Joseph Care Center in LaCrosse, WI on Thursday, September 9 at 3:00 P.M.; at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Montevideo, MN on Saturday, September 11 at 1:00 P.M.; and at Calvary Lutheran Chapel in Madison, WI on Sunday, October 17 at 2:00 P.M.

Bernelda  Lincoln Ost Roberts was born February 12, 1918 in Montevideo, MN the daughter of Julius and Louise (Weckwerth) Ost.  She graduated from New York Mills High School in 1935 and received a Junior Secretarial Certificate from Minneapolis Business College in 1936.  As with many of her generation, life was uprooted by WW II, when she moved to San Francisco to work for Pan American Airlines.  In March of 1944 she married Frank Hartley Roberts of Beckley, WV who was serving in the Navy.  Their son Cameron was born in 1945.  Bernelda lived in many different places, working usually in theater, publishing, or editing.  She moved to Madison, WI in 1962, where she earned a B.A. degree in Art History from the University of Wisconsin in 1971.  She retired in 1982, but continued to do free lance editing.  Bernelda published a genealogy of the Weckwerth family as well as doing the Ost family genealogy, and researched  many others on commission.  She moved to LaCrosse, WI to be near her son Cameron following a stroke in 1995.

Bernelda was a wonderful and remarkable woman, overcoming at age 7 the loss of her father, growing up during the Great Depression, and facing the difficulties of WW II.  Her intelligence, curiosity, vibrant energy, resilience, human warmth, and courage were inspiring.  She was loved by many and will be missed deeply.

She is survived by one son, Cameron Roberts and his wife Carlene of LaCrosse, WI; three grandsons: Rhys of Ft. Collins, CO, and Aaron and Ethan of LaCrosse, WI; one brother, Julius Ost and his wife Anita of Montevideo, MN; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Preceding her in death were her parents; five brothers: Bill, George, Herb, Ted, and Corwin; and one sister, Helen.