Born in Corinth, Mississippi, on Christmas Day, 1899, Mrs. Gary first moved with her family to Arkansas before coming to Champaign in 1917. For many years she worked as a maid in dormitories at the University of Illinois. She always had a special love for children. Until 1981 she worked with the foster grandparent program and, as her nephew says, "she has spent years helping children - not just her relatives' children, but all children." Bertha Gary was a member of Anna Tutt's Honeys.