Evelyn Bertrand

Evelyn Ann Bertrand (nee O’Docharty), age 94, died at her home on January 14, 2024, surrounded by her four loving daughters. Born at Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, TX, she was the daughter of the late Dave John and Marguerite Josephine (Weir) O’Docharty. She grew up alongside her brothers Dave and Robert O’Docharty on a farm in rural San Patricio, TX, and fondly remembered spending her childhood riding a horse to a two-room schoolhouse and going to community dances in the back of her parents’ pickup truck. During her young adulthood, she worked at a telephone company in Corpus Christi. It was during that time that she and her future husband, Brian Bertrand, first set eyes on each other, when he was in flight school for the U.S. Navy. They were married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Corpus Christi in 1955, after which they settled and spent the next 49 years together in Bel Air, MD, until her husband’s death in 2004.

After marriage, Mrs. Bertrand spent many years in service to her family, volunteering as home room mom, cooking wonderful meals, and diving into sewing projects. Her crack organizational skills kept her busy family running smoothly, but she always maintained her own interests. She played a mean game of tennis well into her 70s, loved music genres ranging from classical to western swing to mariachi, avidly followed politics, read voraciously, and could recite every detail of her family history going back several generations. Her ability to connect with others meant that people were never strangers for very long. As her children grew old enough to manage themselves, Mrs. Bertrand ventured out again into the working world, spending many years as a teller at a local Bel Air bank. After retirement, she volunteered with the Town of Bel Air and at the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. Mrs. Bertrand was a lifelong Catholic who shared membership between St. Margaret Church, Bel Air, and St. Ignatius Church, Hickory.

Mrs. Bertrand is survived by four daughters: Denise Bertrand and her husband, Jerry Steiner, of Darlington, Linda Powell and her husband, Kenny Powell, of Bel Air, Michelle Webster and her husband, Daniel Webster, of Bel Air, and Suzanne Griffiths and her husband, Robert Griffiths, of Craftsbury, VT, in addition to six grandchildren: Brian Steiner and his wife Elza Harb, Ian Steiner and his wife Marina Yu, Robert Powell, Lillian Powell, Gabriel Webster, and Olivia Webster, as well as many beloved nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her “fifth daughter,” related not by blood but by kindred soul, Mary Ann (Clark) Batsche and her husband, Stephen. Mrs. Bertrand was predeceased by her parents Dave and Josephine, her brothers Dave and Robert, her husband Brian, and her beloved grandson Teddy Webster.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Evelyn Bertrand to the Kaufman Cancer Center, c/o the Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation, 520 Upper Chesapeake Drive, Suite 405, Bel Air, MD 21014, or give online at www.UCHFoundation.org.