John F. & Bertha S. Britton Family Endowment Fund
To provide financial support to Burke School District 26-2 as designated by the donor.
Fund Details
John F. and Bertha S. Britton Endowment
Family History (information from Adeline Gnirk’s Saga of Ponca Land)
J.F. and Bertha were longtime residents of South Dakota. After they were married in West Virginia in 1904, they worked as teachers and the Civil Service before heading west with the U.S. Department of Indian Affairs on the Pine Ridge Reservation, S.D.
In 1916, J.F. was assigned as Boss Farmer at Milk’s Camp located southeast of Herrick. As Boss Farmer he handled the Indian affairs, and Bertha taught school at Milk’s Camp Day School.
In 1919 the Brittons moved to a farmstead north of St. Charles. In addition to farming, ranching and truck gardening, the family was heavy in poultry raising. They hand crafted their own furniture such as chairs, tables and a settee that Bertha covered with a colorful Indian blanket woven by and presented to the Britton family by Indian friends.
They were the parents of ten children: Belva, Gale, Monna, Glenn, Gordon, Bill, Pauline, Mary Margaret, Florence and Lenna Ruth. The J.F. Brittons retired to St. Charles in 1936. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on September 1, 1954. J.F. died in 1956 and Bertha in 1965; both are buried in The Rosebud Cemetery in Bonesteel, S.D.
In June, 2019, a Britton Family Reunion was held in Branson, MO attracting approximately 90 relatives. It was decided to honor John F. and Bertha S. Britton with a lasting memory by establishing a scholarship at Burke High School in their name. Area high school students now attend Burke H.S. and since both J.F. and Bertha were teachers, it was a perfect fit.
