INDIA ALBERTA KIPLINGER

India Alberta “Bertie” Kiplinger, 71 of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, passed away Saturday, April 24, just 24 days shy of her 72nd birthday.  She died at Southwest Integris Hospital in Oklahoma city.

On May 18, 1949, Bertie wasdelivered at home by Midwife Myrtle Shipman to Woodrow and Leota Kiplingerin a tiny, one-room house in what was commonly known by its residents asthe Community Camp. The Community Camp is identified as Elm Grove on the old plat maps of Oklahoma City and like other places known loosely as “Hoovervilles,” was established during the Depression as a place where people gathered and constructed their shelters of scrap wood, cardboard, Berma Shave signsand other signs, as well as old car batteries stacked like building bricks. In the 1930s and on into the 40s, these shelters sprang up on the banks of what was then the Canadian River and along Pennsylvania Avenue. Remnants of Elm Grove (or the Community Camp) remained right up to the 70s, when the last section was demolished and disappeared into history.

            Bertie was the third of 7 daughters and 7 sons born to Woodrow and Leota. She walked and talked early, a tiny little girl with long white-blonde hair who, by the time she was two, could tell you her name, age, and where she lived.  Growing up in the Community Camp was hard, andBertie suffered more than her share of life’s bumps and hurdles. But she’s in Heaven today and can rest at long last from life’s trials and tribulations.

Bertie was a hard-working mother of 5 children--2 girls and 3 boys as well as numerous grandchildren, all currently living in or near Oklahoma City. Her brothers and sisters as well as many nieces, nephews, and other relatives live in various locations throughout the country but are concentrated mostly in Oklahoma and California with one older sister residing in Montana.

            Bertie is survived by her children Annie, Lee, Travis, Grant, and Apriland her grandchildren Preston, Christine, Britney, Lexi, Tristan, Landon, Jersey, Brooklyn, Paydon, and Colton.

            A memorial Service for Bertie will be held at a later date. 

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