Bertha (Tuinstra) Lynema was born March 2, 1920 in Chicago to Henry and Jennie (Teninga) Tuinstra. She as baptized in the Englewood CRC. Her parents had 15 children; Bertha was their 13th child. Three siblings died at a young age. A year after Bertha was born her dad wanted to leave Chicago after seeing an ad in the newspaper by the Michigan Land Company. The Michigan Land Company wanted someone to clear property to raise onions. Her dad answered the ad and the company was happy he had 4 sons that could also help with the clearing of the land. In 1921 the Tuinstra’s moved to Michigan. They moved into the Michigan Land Company home on 122nd Avenue and began to clear the land on 2nd and 122nd Avenue. Her oldest brother George was in charge of the horses and her second oldest brother Pete was master of the cleat tractor.

In the fall of 1921 Bertha’s parents began attending the East Martin CRC which had just become an organized church in June. The church was being held in a school located on the corner of 2nd Street and 118th Avenue. That building later became Hybel’s Storage. Bertha says it was unbelievable how many young people from Chicago came to visit them. There was never enough room so the boys had to sleep in the hayloft above the horses. The young people always helped while visiting. They would dredge the ditches on 2nd Street to make them wider. The water in the ditches always looked so clean when they were finished. One day Bertha’s brother, George, cut down a big tree and laid it across the ditch. When Bertha and Dick came to bring coffee to the men who were working in the field, George put Bertha under one arm and Dick under the other arm and carried both of them across the ditch. She didn’t think he was going to make it across because all she could see was the water!

Bertha remembers the peppermint still that was on the corner of 122nd Ave. and 2nd Street. It was fun walking through it because the people who worked there were so nice. Her son Les has a bottle with peppermint oil from the still. Bertha loves to ride down 2nd Street to look at the trees along the side of the fields. Her father planted those to keep the wind from blowing the muck out of the onion fields.

In 1928 the Tuinstra family bought a farm West of Shelbyville on 15th Street. Bertha’s father, along with Rev. Peter Hondred, tried to form a church in Hopkinsburg. Bertha met Garit and Abby Lynema’s son, Cornelius, there while attending Young People’s Society. She was only 14 at that time so she was not allowed to date “Neal” until she was 16. There were not enough people to sustain a church in Hopkinsburg so it stayed a mission church until it joined with the Dorr church to form the Dorr CRC.

Bertha was proud of her father for how he helped people during the depression. He would go to the store and get 4 or 5 bushels of expired bread and sweet rolls. On his way home he would drop it off to needy people who were so tickled to get it. Bertha said she remembers how good it was to eat store-bought in place of the everyday homemade bread.

Bertha graduated from the 8th grade from Dunwell School on 16th Street in Hopkins. Brothers Weibe, Henry, and Bert and sister Reka also attended, with Bertha, the Blossom School on 4th Street, Shelbyville. Currently Scott Tuinstra has his house at that location. Bertha did not go on to high school because she had to help her sisters and many other families with their cooking, canning and children. At age 16 she was doing household chores for Manuel Brenner, Olivia Barret and the Barlows. At age 17 she began working for Gene and Alice Viss to take care of their household and children. She continued working there until she married.

Bertha’s father worked with Rev. Steenland to organize the Dorr CRC. It was organized in 1938 and is the church where Neal and Bertha were married on August 29, 1940 by Rev. Veltkamp. Neal and Bertha were the 3rd couple to be married in that church; the 1st couple was Tony and Sylvia Leep. After Neal and Bertha married, they lived on 122nd Avenue and went to the Dorr CRC. In 1945 they moved to 124th Ave. and became members at East Martin CRC. In 1947 they moved to 766 116th Avenue in Martin. They lived in the basement house until 1951 when Neal completed the upper part of their home from bricks he made at Brickcrete. This was 1 mile East of Martin and Bertha lived there for 63 years. Three of their six children were born here. While attending East Martin CRC Bertha was active in the Esther Circle and EMCS. Bertha’s love for friends and family allowed their home to have an “open door” for anyone who needed help. Several nieces, nephews and family members lived with them at one time or another.

Neal and Bertha worked hard so their 3 boys and 3 girls could attend East Martin Christian School and later go on to Kalamazoo Christian High. Bertha’s brother Henry owned the Martin Diner where Bertha would waitress and cook during the lunch hour. In 1965 Bertha began working at Gibson Guitar in Kalamazoo. She did most everything that had to be done to build a guitar, but she never learned to play it. She worked at Gibson for 15 years. At that time the plant closed in Kalamazoo and moved to Tennessee.

Bertha and Neal spent many of their summers camping at Gun Lake. When both retired they were able to spend a few winters in Bradenton, Florida. Bertha attended East Martin CRC for all but 10 years of her life. She was named after the first child (Bertha who was struck by lightning at the age of 13 years in 1914). Neal worked almost 40 years at Checker Cab in Kalamazoo. Neal passed away in 1986.