Alberta ‘Bertie’ Mary Fleske Wright passed away peacefully May 15, 2025, at Silver Creek Retirement Center in Puyallup, Wash. at the age of 100. She was born to Emil and Tena (Both) Fleske on the family farm five miles south of Albert, Kan., on April 14, 1925. She was the youngest of three children, surviving both brothers; Alvin, killed in 1944, at the start of the WW II Battle of the Bulge, and Robert, “Bob”, a long time Oklahoma gas and oil company executive.
She grew up on the farm, graduated from Great Bend High School, and attended Kansas State University in Manhattan for three years majoring in home economics. In early 1945, she met Lonnie, the love of her life, on a blind date. He was a highly decorated Pacific Theater combat airman assigned to train B-29 crews at the new Great Bend Army Air Field. Soon they were married Aug. 5, 1945, in Albert, Kan., and started working on the Fleske family farm.
They spent several years homesteading in Alaska before it became a state. Their union was blessed with one son, Alvin, but the house was always full as they were foster parents both in Alaska and Kansas. In fact Alvin’s brother, John was adopted at the age of 2.
The family moved back to Kansas in 1960 to take over the wheat, cattle and hay farm. She was a typical farm wife, keeping the house in order and doing all the things necessary for a close and comfortable home. She was active in the Hillside EHU (Kansas State University Home Extension Program) as well as the Ladies Aid Society of St Paul’s Lutheran Church. The church is now part of the Barton County Historical Society Museum and Park. She excelled as a homemaker and was an especially skilled seamstress making clothes for the family, even winning first prize for creative sewing at the Kansas State EHU Art Show. After she and Lonnie retired from farming, they moved to Great Bend. Shortly after his passing, she moved to a retirement center in Puyallup, Wash., to be close to her son, Alvin.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Emil and Tina Fleske; husband of 74 yrs, Lonnie; brothers, Alvin and Robert; and grandson Jonathan. She is survived by sons, Alvin (Cynthia) of Puyallup, Wash., and John of Castle Rock, Colo., grandchildren; Jennifer Allen (Rob) of Oceanside, Calif., David (Lenka) of San Jose, Calif., Jeffery (Erica) Bonney of Lake, Wash., Alicia Abby of Castle Rock, Colo., Amy Arias (Mark) of Englewood, Colo., and nine great grandchildren.
Services are pending with Bryant Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorials have been designated to Barton County Historical Society Museum and Village, in care of Bryant Funeral Home, 1425 Patton Rd., Great Bend, KS 67530. Condolences may be sent and notice viewed at www.bryantfh.net.
Funeral arrangements provided by
Bryant Funeral Home
1425 Patton Road
Great Bend, KS 67530
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, June 12, 2025
