FARMINGTON – Bertha B. Sawyer, 79, of Kingfield, died Friday, Dec. 2, at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

She was born Jan. 4, 1926, in Kingfield, the daughter of Arthur R. and Gladys (Campbell) Brindley Ashcroft. She graduated from Kingfield High School and continued her education at Bliss Business College in Lewiston.

On Sept. 3, 1949, in Kingfield, she married Malcolm Sawyer. In addition to being a devoted homemaker, she was employed at Boston Mutual Life Insurance Co., at the Pepperell Mfg. Co. in Lewiston and later at Morton Motor Co. in Farmington. She also had been employed in the office of Forster Mfg. Co. in Farmington.

In 1964, she and her husband and their young family moved to southern California, where she was employed at City Library in Escondido, Calif. They resided in California for more than 30 years, returning to Kingfield in the mid-1990s.

While in California, she was a member of the Emmanuel Faith Community Church and served as a Sunday School teacher for many years. She also co-owned a wig shop, called the Big Wig, in California with her sister-in-law, Blanche Robinson. She was always interested in alternative health medicines and for several years sold Shaklee Products.

She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Malcolm Sawyer of Kingfield; two sons, Malcolm James “Jim” Sawyer and his wife, Kay, of San Leandro, Calif., and Robert “Rob” Sawyer and his wife, Cindy, of Kingfield; one daughter, Bonnie Minnick and her husband, Ross Minnick, of Escondido, Calif.; 17 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

She was predeceased by two brothers, Arthur Brindley and Richard “Dick” Brindley; seven stepbrothers and sisters; one half-sister; and one granddaughter.