Bertha Defenderfer

Bertha H. Defenderfer, 88, of Chambersburg, went home to be with her Lord, on Wednesday, April 30, 2014. Born on October 23, 1925 in Chambersburg, she was the daughter of the late Guy R. and Minna F. Jacoby Hoover. Her beloved husband, Carson W. Defenderfer, preceded her in death on July 18, 1998.

A rich piece of Bertha’s family history includes a great-grandfather who was born in Germany and settled in Chambersburg where he worked for the Cumberland Valley Railroad until he was 85 years of age. He witnessed the Burning of Chambersburg by Confederate Troops on July 30, 1864. Bertha was a homemaker most of her life and a member of Chambersburg Church of Christ.

She is survived by two children, Michael C. Defenderfer and wife Mary of Chambersburg, and Thomas E. Defenderfer and wife Sharon of Palmyra, PA; four grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren. Aside from her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by four sisters, Nancy Shockey, Dorothy Gibbons, Martha Cimone, and Patricia Powell, a brother Guy R. Hoover, and a grandson Joel T. Defenderfer.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 in the Chapel of Thomas L. Geisel Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 333 Falling Spring Road, Chambersburg, PA. Rev. Sampson and Nancy Myers will officiate. Interment will follow the service in Air Hill cemetery. The family will receive friends on Monday, May 5, 2014 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM and one hour prior to the service on Tuesday at the funeral home.