Bertha Burnam “Bebe” Walker Reichert

Bertha Burnam “Bebe” Walker Reichert died on January 2, 2024.

Bebe was born in Ellaville, Georgia, on December 10, 1940, to Gladys Arrington Walker and John C. Walker, Jr. She grew up in Marshallville, Georgia, where she enjoyed spending time with her grandmother, Laura Massee Walker, and her Walker cousins at the family farm, the Massee Place. The farm continued to be a special place for Bebe, including Walker and Massee family reunions there over many years.

Bebe attended elementary school in Marshallville with the same seven classmates for all eight years. She attended Fort Valley High School, graduating as valedictorian, and then Agnes Scott College, graduating with a major in Mathematics. After graduation, Bebe worked at the Navy Instrumentation Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a team designing the guidance system for the NASA Apollo Mission lunar landing module.

Although Bebe and her future husband, Albert, first met while in high school, it was not until she was working at MIT and he was attending Harvard Law School that they began dating. Bebe joked that she must have looked better in Massachusetts than Georgia. Despite her mother’s protest that it was the middle of peach season, Bebe and Albert were married June 27, 1964, in the unairconditioned Methodist Church in Marshallville, Georgia. Bebe and Albert made their home in Macon.

Bebe started teaching algebra at Miller High School in 1964. She later taught geometry and algebra at Stratford Academy, eventually becoming the school Development Director. Bebe finished her teaching career at Mt. De Sales Academy, where she taught through 1992. Bebe loved teaching. She loved the interaction with the students. She loved seeing students’ eyes light up when they “got it”.

Bebe was active in the community. She was a member of the Junior League of Macon, where she served as President. She did extensive work with the United Way and served on numerous boards, including the Tubman African American Museum, which was especially meaningful to her. Bebe was involved with Rotary International, first supporting Albert while he served as District Governor, including

going with Albert to every one of the more than the 60 clubs in southeast Georgia. Later, she became a Rotarian herself in the Downtown Macon Rotary Club, and, working with her usual dedication, was elected President-Elect. However, before becoming President, she had to withdraw due to the breathing problems which eventually led to her death.

Bebe loved to read. Bebe remembered vividly Robert Frost coming each year to Agnes Scott College for a week to read his poetry. She kept her love of reading alive through a book group, discussing books and palavering together.

Bebe was raised Baptist; after getting married, she joined Vineville United Methodist Church, where Albert was a member. Bebe had long been attracted to the Catholic Church. She took the Catholic information class under Father John Cuddy and joined St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in 1986. She wrote a booklet about what had attracted her to the Catholic Church, which was printed and distributed in the church. After retirement from teaching, Bebe worked at St. Joseph’s, publishing the church newsletter, managing the bookstore, and serving as Education Director. Bebe arranged several seminars at the church, including one on Flannery O’Connor. She later transferred her membership to St. Peter Claver Catholic Church.

Bebe was a clever tailor, making a sport coat for Albert; knitter, making Christmas stocking for her sons and grandchildren - if she missed a stitch she would undo many rows in order to correct it; needlepointer, including making a needlepoint of a picture drawn by each her children and making large needlepoints which she completed by pacing herself to do a certain number of rows each day until the work was completed over more than a year; and quilter - one of her quilts received a blue ribbon at the Georgia State Fair. Bebe crafted Christmas decorations for her family that were used over holidays year after year.

Bebe enjoyed going to Sandlapper and Sailmaker at Fernandina Beach with family and with friends, such as her Life-Long Friends, the Supper Club, the R3s, and the Old Partners.

But Bebe excelled most at being a wife and mother. She and Albert had two sons, Albert III and John. She prepared home-cooked dinners that the family would enjoy around the table together each evening. She provided wise and calm guidance to her husband and to their sons. Her steady love never failed in smooth times or rocky times. Bebe brought out the best in her husband and her sons.

Bebe is survived by her husband, Albert P. Reichert, Jr. and their sons, Albert P. Reichert III and John Walker Reichert and John’s wife, Carolyn Martin Reichert; by her grandchildren, Albert III’s children, Sarana Burnam Reichert and Leath Albert Reichert, and John’s children, Eden Pape Reichert, Luna Walker Reichert, Wren Martin Reichert and Jack Mauzy Reichert.

Bebe is also survived by her brother, John C. Walker III, and his wife, Sharon Weatherford Avant Walker; brothers-in-law Stephen A. Reichert and Robert A. B. Reichert and Robert’s wife, Adele Dunwody Reichert, and by cousins and nephews and nieces from the Walker, Massee, Arrington, Reichert, and Bowen families.

A rosary will be held at Hart’s at the Cupola at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 5th, followed by a visitation. A funeral mass will be held at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 6th, 2024.. There will be private interment at Rose Hill Cemetery.

For those wishing to make gifts in memory of Bebe, the charities that were important to her include St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, Agnes Scott College (Life-Long Friends Scholarship Fund), Community Foundation of Central Georgia (Albert and Bebe Reichert Family Fund), Tubman African American Museum, and The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

Please visit www.hartsmort.com to express condolences.

Hart’s at the Cupola, Hart's Mortuary and Cremation Center, 6324 Peake Rd, Macon, GA 31210 has charge of the arrangements.