Audrey Bertman

Audrey Bertman, 71, of Leavenworth, passed away peacefully on July 19, 2026. Private family services will be held.

Audrey was born on August 30, 1954, in Washington, D.C. to Hildegard Wagner and Frederick Hilley. She spent her early childhood in Munich, Germany, arriving by train at the age of five in Rapid City, South Dakota speaking very little English, before her family moved to Seattle, Washington, during the 1960s.

Audrey married the love of her life, John Bertman a Seattle boy and salmon fisherman, on November 2, 1979. While John spent summers commercial salmon fishing in Alaska, Audrey held down the home front. First in the Seattle area and in 1989 the family settled in the Cascade Mountains on the banks of the Wenatchee River in Plain. Some of her happiest moments were spent as a family camping at Mount Rainier, sitting beside a fire with John and the girls, and playing cribbage.

Audrey was a free spirit and a hippie at heart. She loved music, opera, art, dancing and gardening. She had a special appreciation for wildflowers, especially those that grow in the Cascade Mountains. She found joy gardening and took pride in her dahlias and rock roses. She adored raising chickens and protected them fiercely. Her family will always remember her running outside in her bathrobe, no matter the hour, to chase away anything threatening her flock.

John’s sudden death in 1998 changed the course of Audrey’s life. The loss left a profound emptiness, and in the years that followed, she struggled with grief, mental illness, and addiction. Those struggles affected her health, her family and ultimately led to her living in a nursing home.

The later years of Audrey’s life were difficult, but they were not the entirety of who she was. Before illness and addiction took so much from her, Audrey was kind, caring, funny, and loyal. She cared for the people and animals in her life with her whole heart. Even during her hardest years, glimpses of that woman remained.

Her life is a reminder that people are more than the most difficult chapters, and that mental illness, addiction, and grief deserve to be talked about.

Audrey is survived by her daughters, Erica, and Nadine (Brendan); her granddaughter, Eliza; her dear friends, Myndi, Andy, Judy and other family members and friends who loved her. She was preceded in death by her husband, John; mother, Hildegard; in-laws, Bill and Margaret Bertman; brother-in-law, Mike Bertman, and many other special individuals.

Audrey will be remembered in the wildflowers when we drive through the Cascades, both the beauty and the struggle. Ruhe in Frieden Mama.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Johnston & Williams of Ellensburg. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.johnston-williams.com