Harriet "Hattie" Elizabeth Proudfoot Burg 1867-1939

BURG, BERG, PROUDFOOT, OSHER, BERGSTROM, HERKE

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 5/1/2012 at 22:33:03

S. of Wallingford –
Mrs. S.W. Berg Dead
Mrs. S.W. Berg [Burg] of Wallingford passed away Wednesday at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Osher.

Funeral services were held Friday at the Methodist church in Graettinger.

Surviving are her husband, S.W. Berg of Wallingford and several children, namely, Mrs. William Bergstrom of Des Moines, Mrs. Ed Herke and Charlie Berg of Osgood, Kerry Berg of Ruthven, Raymond Berg of Gillette Grove and Eugene Berg and Mrs. Gilbert Osher of Wallingford. (Estherville Enterprise, Estherville, IA, July 20, 1939)

Remains of Mrs. S.W. Berg [Burg] Laid To Rest
Mrs. S.W. Berg Passed Away at the Home of her Daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Osher; Funeral Was Held Last Friday Afternoon
A short mention was made in last week’s Times of the death of Mrs. S.W. Berg, who passed away Wednesday, July 12, 1939, at 7:15 p.m. at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Gilbert Osher, of northwest of Graettinger. Mrs. Berg had been in failing health for a long time. She was given the best of medical and nursing care but due to her advanced years and the nature of her ailment she was unable to rally and gradually grew weaker until called by her Creator.

The funeral was held Friday afternoon. Services were conducted at the home and at the Methodist Episcopal church in Graettinger at 2:30 p.m. The pastor, the Rev. Wm. G. Bohl officiated. The funeral was under the auspices of the Rebekah lodge and arrangements were in charge of Arnold Sevold. There was a large attendance at the funeral and banks of beautiful flowers adorned the casket. Interment was in the Oak Hill cemetery at Estherville. The casket bearers were six grandsons of the deceased.

Hattie Elizabeth proudfoot, daughter of Charles and Rebecca Proudfoot , was born in Warren county, Iowa, November 13, 1867. She was 71 years of age at the time of her death. Her ancestry dates back to the first American colonists who came over on the Mayflower.

On January 19, 1888, she was united in marriage to Mr. Swan William Berg. The ceremony was performed at Des Moines. The newly wedded couple resided in Des Moines for 15 years, moving from there to a farm -----. They moved from this farm to Norwalk, Iowa, where they resided until 1915, when they came to Emmet county, where they farmed for 18 years.

Mr. and Mrs. Berg were the parents of eight children, seven of whom are living. They are Raymond, of Gillette Grove; Mrs. Stella Bergstrom, of Des Moines; Mrs. Rebecca [Osher] and Eugene Berg, of the Estherville vicinity; Charles Berg and Mrs. Ina Herke, of Osgood. A daughter passed away in infancy. Besides her husband and children Mrs. Berg is survived by 30 grandchildren and one great grandson.

Mrs. Berg enjoyed quite normal health throughout her long life. More than a year ago her last illness started. She had known for some time that her malady could not be cured but she kept up bravely, longer than one would have thought possible. Despite the pain and discomfort she experienced in the last months and weeks of her life, she never failed to greet friends and loved ones with a smile and a cheery greeting.

For almost a quarter of a century the Berg family have been prominent and active in religious, social and business circles of the Graettinger and Wallingford communities. They located in the Wallingford vicinity in 1915 and continued to reside there but they were frequent visitors in Graettinger and were well known and highly regarded here. Mr. and Mrs. Berg were married for 51 years. A year ago last January they observed their golden wedding anniversary and were showered with congratulations and gifts by relatives, neighbors and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Berg, too, were blessed with a large family of sons and daughters. It is hardly necessary to say that it was a pleasure and a source of happiness to them to see these sons and daughters develop into such worthy members of society and to take their places so creditably in the busy walks of life. Mrs. Berg was a devoted wife, a mother willing to make any sacrifice for her loved ones, and was a neighbor and friend of the real pioneer type. Throughout her long and useful life her many acts of kindness, mercy and charity were so numerous they can not be recalled even by members of her own family. Friends, as well as loved ones, have reason to grieve deeply over her loss. Her devoted partner of over a half century feels keenly the death of his beloved wife and companion. Sons and daughters mourn for he dear old mother they have always known. Friends and neighbors realize the loss they, too, have sustained. Death is sad whether it takes the old of the young, but there is a consolation far greater than words of sympathy, and that is that some day loved ones will again be united in eternity.

The Times extends heartfelt sympathy to Mr. Berg, to the sons and daughters and grandchildren in the loss they have been called upon to bear. (Graettinger Times, Graettinger, IA, July 20, 1939)