Hertz was devoted mom, athlete
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Georgia Hertz
Georgia "Geoy" Hertz, a 40-year resident remembered as a devoted mother and Catholic Church member, died Sept. 16 in Buckley, Wash. of cancer. She was 70.
"She loved us unconditionally, and you could feel it," daughter Mary Ake said in a eulogy. "She made us homemade bread – even grinding her own wheat – gave us fresh goat's milk from Henderson's farm and sneaked brewer's yeast and wheat germ into our cookies and peanut butter."
Ake said some of the family's funniest stories owed to her mother's innocence, including not understanding that "hard" lemonade contained alcohol, and "wondering why she felt funny" after drinking it.
Georgia also was a talented artist and crafter who sold pastel renderings of animals and pets, as well as potpourris and dried flower arrangements, family members said.
"She could take a few pieces of driftwood, turn them in a different way and create a collage. People loved that stuff," said former husband Erwin Hertz. "She could see something in a piece of wood. She was a very artsy person."
Daughter Ake said her mother enjoyed bowling in recent years and would beat her father in ping-pong. She also played racquetball and learned how to ski in Haines. "She was a good athlete and very competitive." Georgia Hertz also was a voracious reader and theater-goer who grew large gardens in Haines and Buckley, her daughter said.
One of seven children, Georgia was born to George and Beatrice Allen in Fabens, Texas, on Aug. 3, 1944. Growing up, she helped her mom, who worked as a cook at a country club in El Paso. Georgia came to Haines to visit family at age 19, and married Erwin after a short courtship.
"She was the love of my life. She was the best thing that ever happened to me. We had four kids. I wish we had had 14," Erwin said this week.
Carol Waldo said Georgia was a devoted mother, active in the Catholic Church. "She was the ideal mom. She became really involved in whatever her kids were doing in school. I never heard her say an unkind word about anybody. She supported her church and her children."
Georgia moved to Buckley in 2004, joining sister Beatrice "BZ" Wilson there. She was active in St. Aloysius Catholic Church, attended Red Hat Society gatherings and spent holidays with children in the Lower 48.
"She made every holiday special. It was very important to her. She always tried to gather us together for Christmas whenever possible," daughter Mary said.
Georgia Hertz is survived by children Erwin Jr. "Stoney" Hertz, Mary Ake of Bend, Ore. and Lisa Novak of Albany, Ore.; by siblings Beatrice Wilson, Mary Roeser, Dr. Thomas Allen, John Allen and William Allen, and by many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by brother Dana Allen and by son Jesse Hertz.
A funeral mass was held Saturday at St. Aloysius Church in Buckley. Georgia requested that her ashes be buried at Jones Point Cemetery in Haines at the grave of son Jesse Hertz.
