Bertie Jane Reed

Bertie Jane Prigge

75, a resident of Allen, Texas, entered into rest September 27, 2021. She was born July 21, 1946, in Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Bertie was the second daughter of Clarence Wesley and Pauline Elizabeth Waller Reed. Uninhibited, unreserved, and passionate. Bertie loved and lived her life with a singular clarity of purpose. Born into the Reed family, she knew with a dead-eye certainty what being a Reed meant: love and loyalty without question. Bertie was a devoted daughter. Her siblings and 93 first cousins had a willing and enthusiastic partner in crime. She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1964 and remained friends with her classmates her entire life. She married Joel Prigge on October 26, 1968, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He asked her to marry him after five days. Her best friend Diane thought it would be a good idea because maybe he'd "calm her down a little bit". They were married for 40 years, 4 months, and 14 days. Their adventures took them across the continental United States, a 7-week road trip to Alaska, and to Germany. They raised four children, and when their church asked if anyone was willing to foster another for an undetermined period of time, they willingly opened their hearts and home to one more. She had nothing but the purest love and pride for her grandchildren.

Bertie had various jobs throughout her life. She worked as a clerk at a gas station, assembled circuit boards at NCR, and as a cashier in the VHS department of a grocery store. The job she loved to start conversations with at her independent living community was working on the Apollo 11 with Collins Radio. Best ways to remember Bertie: ride a horse, listen to an entire Elvis album without skipping any tracks, bake a pie, tell a friend you love them, and visit your family.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Joel Prigge, two sons, Matthew and Joshua Prigge, and one sister, Vickie Thiesse. Survivors include three daughters, Shannon Sensing of Forest Lake, Minnesota, Tracy Haskett and husband Brad of Allen, Texas, and Paula Prigge of St. Charles, Missouri; two sisters, Louise Howard and husband Wilburn of Ft. Smith, Arkansas, and Shirley Holsinger and husband Donn of Allen, Texas; one brother, Wesley Reed and wife Kathi of Jonesboro, Arkansas; and five grandchildren, Samantha Sensing, Robert Sensing, Caleb Barkhurst, Braden Haskett, and Lee Haskett; and her little dog, Polly.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, November 6, 2021, at the West Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Services are under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial donation to: The Native American Heritage Association naha-inc.org, or SPCA of Texas spca.org

Published November 3, 2021

OBITUARY SUBMITTED BY:

Edwards Funeral Home

PO box 3, Fort Smith, AR

E-mail: edwardsfh@yahoo.com

Phone: 479-782-8203