President Lew Bertram shared the fascinating story of his obviously very adventuresome forbears and his grandfather’s immigration from Ireland to South Africa to Australia and subsequently to New York. Weekly letters he had sent to Lew’s grandmother were intercepted, so they lost track of each other until he found Mary in New York City, where his grandparents were married. His family then went to St Louis and on to Porterville. His relatives also went to Alaska in the gold rush.
 
Lew’s parents were married in 1929. His mother was the first female regent at the University of California, Berkeley.