Berdell L. Hadlock, 88, of Hamilton, Montana passed away suddenly on October 12, 2021.
She was born December 29, 1932 in Battle Mountain, Nevada, the daughter of the late Thomas E. and Bertha L. Wood.
Berdell was the fourth of five siblings. She graduated from Chandler High School in 1950 and went on to graduate from Arizona State University (at that time Arizona State College Tempe) in 1954.
On July 2, 1953, she married Ernest Howard Hadlock in Wickenburg, Arizona. She taught first grade for 31 years in the Sierra Vista Unified School District. As a passionate supporter for public education, Berdell was active in the Sierra Vista Unified Education Association and, in 1979, acted in the capacity of chief negotiator for the longest teachers’ strike in the state of Arizona up to that time.
She had a lifelong love of knitting and was exceptionally accomplished after learning the skill during World War II in Battle Mountain as a young girl.
The community gathered together to teach others how to knit in order to supply servicemen with socks, mittens, and gloves.
She is survived by her son, Richard (Jean) Hadlock of Salmon, Idaho, granddaughters Charlotte (Michael Sotolongo) of Pullman, Washington, and Rebecca of Salmon, Idaho, as well as her older brother, Thomas E (Irene) Wood III, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Berdell was preceded in death by her husband, Howard, sisters, Ina Jones and Betty Messing, and brother, John Wood. No service is planned. Inte
rment will be with her husband, Howard, at Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Sierra Vista, Arizona at a later date. Memorial donations may be made to the Battle Mountain Cookhouse Museum, PO Box 663, Battle Mountain, NV 89820.
