Bertha M. Elstrom was born on April 22, 1913 to Harry E. and Edna Shaw Nelson at their farm home south of Concordia, the second-born of four children.  She passed from this life on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at Cloud County Health Center, Concordia at the age of 95.  She was baptized at the Concordia Baptist Church at age 15.  Bertha graduated from Concordia High School in May 1931, and married Ted R. Elstrom at the Baptist parsonage in Concordia on Dec. 16, 1931.  Bertha and Ted built a house on the farm that Ted's grandfather, Gustaf Elfstrom, homesteaded in 1869, nine miles southwest of Concordia.  Ted's parents, Emil and Merle Elstrom, also lived on the property.  (Emil dropped the "f" in Elfstrom when he became a young man.)  Bertha and Ted lived on the homestead all their married life, except for a six-month period in 1939, when Ted attended a radio repairman course at the Zenith Radio Factory in Chicago.  Bertha continued living on the farm until March 5, 2003, when she moved to Sunset Home.  In 1943, during WWII, Ted and Emil hired some German prisoners from the POW Camp north of Concordia to build a cement water tower on the farm.  Bertha always prepared a hearty meal for the prisoners, who were accompanied by an armed guard.  The guard told Ted, in private, that there were no bullets in his gun.  The Elstrom farm was hit by the tornado that struck southwest of Concordia on June 9, 1967.  Both houses were spared, but the barn was leveled except for the oldest section, made of stone, where the milking stanchions were.  Along with the standard crops, Bertha and Ted grew fields of iris and sold the bulbs wholesale in Salina for several years.  Concordia residents used to come out in the spring to see the iris; and in later years, to see their peonies.  Bertha and Ted began raising dogs in 1965.  They started with Pekineese and expanded to other breeds.  Bertha was the main caretaker for the dogs.  After Ted died in 1987, she continued raising dogs, but on a smaller scale.  When she suffered a stroke in 1996, she had to give up raising dogs.  She is survived by her son, Allan Elstrom and wife Janice, Ottawa, KS; son in law, Howard Vignery, Jackson, MS; grandchildren, John Elstrom, Steve Elstrom, Kristi Elstrom Hubert, Beverly Vignery Renfroe and Angela Vignery Savoy; great grandchildren, Alayna, Rebecca, Caroline, Josiah, Mathias and Linnea Elstrom, Alexis and Abygael Hubert, Brooke Anne and Blair Renfroe.  She was preceded in death by her husband, Ted; a son, Paul; daughter, Barbara Vignery; sisters, Francis Vollan and Ronelda Wells and a brother, Harry E. Nelson, Jr.  Funeral services will be held on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 2:00 PM at Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home, Concordia with Rev. Dean R. Frazier officiating.  Burial will follow the services at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Concordia.  Visitation will be held from 9 AM to 9 PM on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 with the family greeting friends from 6:30-8 PM at Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home.  The family suggests memorials to the American Heart Assoc.