Gearhart was beaten in the 1948 House elections by a political newcomer, 47-year-old Democratic cotton rancher Cecil F. White, with the seven-term representative obtaining only 46.9% of the vote while White received 51.3%. After losing the election, Gearhart went back to Fresno to resume his law practice until his death. Personal life and death Bertrand W. Gearhart died age 65 on October 11, 1955, in a San Francisco hospital. He was then interred in Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno. References External links The Political Graveyard profile for Bertrand W. Gearhart USC Gould School of Law alumni 1890 births 1955 deaths San Francisco Bay Area politicians Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California 20th-century American politicians