Berta, 50-year vendor of speciality items, dies

Angela Soo

Tuesday, July 31, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

Some say Frank Berta's shop was way ahead of its time.

Bertae Specialties, which operated for 50 years before closing last year, carried such things as herbal remedies and Berta's featured item -- the back-roller chair.

"He was selling these things way before it became trendy," Melanie Chacon, a longtime friend, said. "He was really ahead of his time."

Berta, a resident of 50 years who was a familiar face in commercials during television's earliest days in Las Vegas, died July 24. He was 86.

Services will be held 3 p.m. Wednesday at Desert Chapel, 1111 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

"His motto in life was 'find a need and fill it,' " Irene Berta, his wife of 30 years, said. "He believed in helping people mentally, physically and spiritually."

As a husband, he was always willing to please.

"He loved me so much," Berta said. "All I had to say was how much I liked something or how lovely something was, and he would do something special for me. I once said how pretty a rose was, and then he brought me a crystal rose because he said it wouldn't die."

Berta was born Feb. 22, 1915, in Gallup, N.M., where he helped his father work in the coal mining industry. He moved to New York during the 1940s to work for the War Production Board, where he kept track of supplies.

After sustaining back injuries from a fall down a flight of stairs, Berta moved to Las Vegas in 1951 for the warmer climate. He opened his specialty store that year, first operating out of a trailer at Bonanza Way and Main Street until settling down at 2401 W. Charleston Blvd.

He is survived by his wife, Irene Berta, and step-daughter, Colette Nizet, both of Las Vegas.