Gracieuse/Grace (Etcheverry) Berhan, born October 20, 1939 was raised in the small Basque town of Bidarray, France and moved to San Francisco, California at 20 years old where she met her husband and began a family of her own. Trials of moving to a new country never kept her and her husband from leading a beautiful, adventure-filled, joyful life. She held many positions throughout her life, such as: domestic engineer, household financial planner and bookkeeper, motel manager, but her most favorite position she ever held was being a childcare provider. She was a childcare provider for 27 years and she loved her babies as if they were her own. She also loved to go camping with “The Group” and attend Basque picnics and Basque Cultural Center events where she would visit with family and friends and dance the night away. She loved to sing loud and proud and took every chance she could to do it. She also loved to participate in family and friend gatherings like showers, weddings, baptisms, communions, birthday parties, etc. If she was healthy and available, she never turned down an opportunity to see and party with those whom she loved.
On December 30th, Grace left this world to join her parents (Michel and Marie), five brothers (Gratien, Michel, Jean-Pierre, Jean-Baptiste, and Xemartin), one sister (Catherine), and other loved ones who preceded her.
The beautiful impact of Grace Berhan’s life is held dear by those loved ones left behind: her husband, Dominique, two daughters and sons-in-law Jane Gray (David) and Yvette Bryson (Roy), three grandchildren and granddaughter-in-law Ethan Gray (Megan), Patrick Berhan, Taylor Gray, and two great-grandchildren Walker and McKinley Gray. She is also survived by her sister Marie-Jeanne Bonson, sisters-in-law Annie Nogues, Odette Etcheverry, Lorraine Etcheverry, Marguerite Etcheverry, Marie-Therese Berhan, and a sea of godchildren, nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.
For those who wish to join us to celebrate the life she shared with us, we welcome you to attend her services with us. Her love spread wide. For that reason, we will be having two separate services: for Nevada loved ones, the memorial will be held at Saint Gall’s Catholic Church on February 5, 2022 at 10:00am. For those in California, services will be held on February 12, 2022 at 10:30am at Saint Pius Catholic Church.
In lieu of flowers in her memory, should you want to keep her sense of giving alive, we invite you to donate to the following charities:
Artzai Ona-Basque Ministries Basquecatholic.org - P.O. Box 6439
Boise, Idaho 83707
A Child’s Hope International- Church and Community Support to care for
Orphans https://thechildrenarewaiting.org/ - 2430 East Kemper Road
Cincinnati, OH 45241
BrightFocus Foundation-Research Funding to defeat Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, and Alzheimer’s www.brightfocus.org - 22512 Gateway Center Drive Clarksburg, MD 20871