Aileen Dye, 93, died peacefully March 9, at the home of her son, James Robert Bertram in Covington. She was preceded in death by her husbands John F. Bertram Jr. and James G. (Jack) Dye. Mrs. Dye was born in Corbin, Ky., the daughter of Samantha Pearl Baker Lawson and James Marion Lawson, both natives of Corbin. She was their only child and early proved to be a strong student and gifted musician. She was proud of the education she received in Corbin schools. She went on to graduate from Cumberland College (now University of the Cumberlands) and received her bachelor’s degree in education from Eastern Kentucky University in 1940. She also continued her musical activities: singing in church and school choirs and playing piano and organ at worship services.
In 1943, Mrs. Dye married John Foreman Bertram Jr. of Vanceburg, Ky., with whom she had three children, John Foreman Bertram III (known as Jack), Beverly Lawson Bertram and James Robert Bertram (known as Bob). After Mr. Bertram’s death in 1957, she married Jack Dye in 1960. Mrs. Dye resumed her career in the Vanceburg public school, teaching English in seventh and eighth grades for 20 years.
She wrote, composed music for and directed the school Christmas pageants, a highlight of Vanceburg holidays. Mrs. Dye also gave private piano lessons. Her students loved and respected her; many continued to send Christmas cards every year.
Mrs. Dye loved beauty of all kinds and cultivated elegance both in her person and in her surroundings. Aileen Dye will be remembered for her moral and emotional strength, her powerful will and her sense of humor and style. Brought up in the Great Depression, widowed young, she never stooped to self-pity but to the end repeated “I’ve had a lovely life.”
Survivors include her daughter Beverly Bertram Thomas of Loganville; sons and daughters-in-law John F. and Maxine Rithmire Bertram of Monroe; James R. and Laura M. Bertram of Covington; grandchildren Meg Rithmire of Cambridge, Mass., Jill Bolduc of Napa, Calif., Jessica Thomas of Atlanta, Rachel Thomas Kilpatrick of Loganville, Charlotte Bertram Lancaster of Snellville, and James Nathan Bertram of Greensboro.
A memorial service for Mrs. Dye will be held at 11 a.m. April 4, at the First Baptist Church in Vanceburg, Ky. Visit www.caldwellandcowan.com to place online condolences.
