Developed, owned many restaurants
Bertha S. Jimenez, 94, was a sweet and caring woman — until someone pushed her around. Once, a member of the Chicago Outfit walked into the restaurant she owned with her husband and told her he would be the new owner, according to her son, former Chicago Sun- Times reporter Gilbert R. Jimenez. She told the mobster to leave before she called the cops.
A month later, he returned, her son said, and came behind the counter where Ms. Jimenez was cooking. He told her he would take over and be her new boss — key missteps, according to Gil, who was a teenager at the time.
“He made two mistakes. One was telling her that he was gonna take her property just because he wanted to. And the second mistake he made, probably the biggest mistake he made, was telling her that he was her new boss,” her son said. “Because she picked up a butcher knife and she started swinging it at this guy and backed him right out of the kitchen and right out the front door never to be seen again.”
Ms. Jimenez, of Logan Square, died on March 10 after a long illness. She had developed and owned at least 11 restaurants in the area with her husband, the late Gilbert S. Jimenez, over the course of 50 years — a variety ranging from diners to white tablecloths and Mexican food restaurants.
“Once they got together, there was no stopping them. They worked their way up to be able to afford to open their first restaurant, and in the restaurant business, those were really long, tough hours,” her son said. “They loved what they did, and my mother loved what she did.”
Ms. Jimenez knew the importance of hard work her whole life and was the seventh of 14 children. Born in Tivoli, Texas, in 1923, she grew up on a farm and hunted wild game including rabbits and deer to help feed the family.
Ms. Jimenez eventually met her husband, also in the restaurant business, and they traveled for work. During World War II, Gil Jimenez said, the couple worked at the Y- 12 National Security Complex — a key player in the creation of the atomic bomb. There, Ms. Jimenez worked as a pantry chef while her husband was executive chef. They were slated to feed President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the facility, but he died before the scheduled visit.
Despite her tough side, her son said his mother was “sweet as candy” and was always feeding others. He remembered when she broke her leg and was in a rehabilitation center for months, he would bring her snacks every day.
“After a little while, I learned that I had to bring extra because she was always giving part of her meal or her treats away to other people in the rehab center,” her son said. “Long after she was out of the restaurant business, she was still feeding people; it was kind of amazing.”
After her husband died in 1994, Ms. Jimenez retired from the business. Her son said she wasn’t satisfied staying home, and eventually began looking for work. She applied at a restaurant supply outlet, but she had received formal education only through the second grade and needed a high school diploma for the job.
So, in her 70s, she enrolled in a GED class, got a high school diploma and applied again for the job. She worked at least a decade in the position, her son said.
“When she had her health, which was up until a few years ago, she . . . really enjoyed life. Into her 90s, she would still go out every day. She would drive,” Gil Jimenez said. “She wouldn’t stay home. She would go with her girlfriends or she’d go for a drive. She just wasn’t one to sit in a rocking chair.”
Ms. Jimenez enjoyed gardening and joined a seniors club through which she traveled across the United States. At one point in her 80s, she even took a cruise to Alaska.
She was “crazy for bulldogs,” owning four at different times, with names including “Rocky” and “Ringo.” She often sat on her porch drinking coffee and making conversation with whoever passed by.
In addition to her son, Gilbert, Ms. Jimenez is survived by grandchildren Neil and Jason Jimenez, great- grandson Charlie Porter Jimenez, and brothers Savas, Abel and Cosme Solis.
Services have been held.