Centenarian: Marie Bertsch

After Marie Bertsch graduated college in 1942, she worked as a registered dietitian — and became endlessly bored. She worked at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, then Children’s Memorial, and finally the University of Illinois’ Research and Educational Hospitals before she’d had enough. 

To fight the boredom, Marie went to Joliet for flying lessons. She was 22, and U.S. involvement in World War II was just beginning. She hoped that she could join the Army because she knew how to fly a plane.

“But I didn’t have enough solo hours, so I couldn’t join,” Marie says. “I was real upset about that. So I walked over and joined the Navy.”

Her brother was in the Navy at the time; Marie says it felt like home for her partially because of that. She became a lieutenant at the supply school in Massachusetts before she was sent to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. After three years in Mechanicsburg, Marie requested a return home to Chicago to be with her ailing mother; her next and last stop in her Naval career was the armory at Randolph Street and the lake, next to the yacht club. 

“Time went on, I got married, and they threw me out of the Navy,” Marie says with a laugh. “They didn’t want me anymore.”

She and her husband raised six children before she decided to go back to work — this time as a third-grade teacher at St. Paul of the Cross in Park Ridge. After 21 years there, Marie retired, which, for her, meant volunteering. She volunteered at Resurrection Medical Center in various roles for 38 years.

Today, Marie is the oldest resident in the independent living unit at Ascension Living Resurrection Village, across the street from the medical center. She continues to volunteer for the crafting club, making clothes for people in need. Marie is also the cashier for her knitting circle, handling all craft fair money.

“I handled money all my life, so that was very comfortable,” she says. “I can’t believe they let me still do it.”

Marie is the only one in her family who has lived this long. “Just using my head a little got me to 106,” she says. “Listening to other people, too.”

Above photo by Jim Vondruska

Originally published in the Summer/Fall 2025 print issue.