Rose Jane Berry, 90, Had Knack For Beauty -- Alaska Homesteader's Dolls Have Place In Museum

Rose Jane Berry possessed not only the will and skills to homestead in Alaska, but also had a creativity that brought beauty to others.

Her life stands as a tough, colorful example to her family, even as a life-sized doll in her image stands at the entrance to the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art in Bellevue.

Mrs. Berry, an apple-head doll artist in her own right, died of kidney failure April 16. She was 90.

This daughter of Italian immigrants was willing to work hard and take life as it came. She grew up on a large farm family in Roslyn, Kittitas County. Early on she craved adventure and appreciated natural beauty.

In 1926 she married a miner who sought his fortune in Alaska. In 1935 she cruised from Seattle to join him.

"She was one of two women on a steamship with 300 men," said her daughter, Rosalie Whyel of Bellevue. "He didn't know she was coming. She was a real pioneer woman."

Mrs. Berry reared her family, and coped with mess halls, dirt roads and one-room cabins for 15 years. Then she divorced, moved to Fairbanks, and married Richard Berry, her husband for her remaining 43 years.

In Fairbanks she perfected her gardening, canned fruits and vegetables, and wrote poetry. She also crocheted, knitted, made dolls with dried apple-heads, and painted Alaska scenes on canvas or on tree fungus, giving away many items.

"She was a busy lady and wanted to stay busy," said her daughter. "A walk in the woods with her was an adventure. She always found something to make into something else."

Mrs. Berry moved to Bellevue in 1989; some of her dolls are in the Museum of Doll Art.

Her son, Joseph Usibelli of Fairbanks, remembers his mother saw beauty wherever she was, and had a "wonderful" way with Italian food, particularly ravioli.

"She was never one to express much discontent, although I'm sure she felt it from time to time," he said. "She came from a time when everything was hard. She thought she had it pretty easy in later years."

Her daughter thinks this poem in her mother's poetry book best expresses Mrs. Berry's outlook:

"This world that we're livin' in

Is mighty hard to beat;

You get a thorn with every rose,

But ain't the roses sweet."

Mrs. Berry's other survivors include 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Services were held. Remembrances may go to the University of Alaska Foundation, Art Museum Wing Fund, College, AK 99701.