Bertha Okonak, born on January 28, 1905, was from Latrobe, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Valentine Okonak, born in Germany, and his wife, Rose, born in Austria/Germany.

At the time of the 1910 Federal Census, Valentine and Rose Okonak lived in Unity, Westmoreland County, with their three children, Joseph, 11, Marie, 10, and Bertha, 5.

The father, Valentine Okonak, a coal miner, died on May 19, 1919 of a "fractured skull due to jumping from 5th story window, a distance of about 30 feet while temporarily insane." At the time, the family residence was Depot Street, Latrobe.

Rose Okonak and her children lived on Brinker Avenue, Latrobe, at the time of the 1920 census. She had the following children still at home: Joseph V., 20, Marie, 19, Bertha, 14, James, 5 years 11 months.

In 1930, Bertha Okonak, 25, Trained Nurse - Hospital, lived on Coral Street, Pittsburgh. Her roommate was her former St. Francis classmate, Violet Doran, 26, also from Latrobe.

On October 11, 1930, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, Bertha Pauline O'Konak [as spelled], married Charles Glenn Bender, 26, a plumber living in Greensburg. The record indicates that she was a nurse, age 25, born in Latrobe, and the daughter of Valentine O'Konak and Rose Kubic, both born in Germany.

C. Glenn and Bertha Bender, both 35, are found on Gaskill Street, Jeannette, Westmoreland County, in 1940. They had one child, C. Glenn, Jr., age 7.

C. Glenn Bender, Sr., born in 1904, died in 1986. Bertha died in March 1987. They are buried at Westmoreland County Memorial Park, Greensburg, Westmoreland County.