BERGE, Bernt C. (1913-2006)

BERGE, ENOCKSON, HOLDEN, WEIANS, ANDERSON, ALDEN, FLANIGAN, WAGNER, CHRISENSEN, WEAVER, HOLTKAMP, WALSTON, RIVERA, TONDERUM

Posted By: Hancock Co Genealogical Society (email)
Date: 3/10/2016 at 17:21:33

B. C. Berge, 1913-2006

November 1, 2006

B.C. Berge, 93, of Garner, died on Tuesday, October 24, 2006, at the Concord Care Center in Garner.

Funeral services were held at 10:30 a.m., on Friday, October 27, at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner, with Rev. Dale Glawatz officiating. Music was provided by organist, Beverly Cataldo. Ushers were Jim Leonard and Al Voss. Honorary bearers were Rotarians and their spouses and the Hancock County Bar Association.

Casket bearers were Tim Anderson, Alex Berge, Tom Alden, Mike Flanigan, Mark Holtkamp, Shannon Berge, Andrew Christensen, Dean Walston, Keith Weaver and Scott Wagner. Burial was in the Concord Township Cemetery, Garner. The Cataldo Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. Memorials may be directed to the St. Paul Lutheran Church or Little Lambs Pre-School.

B.C. (Bernt Charles) Berge, the son of Thomas and Mollie (Enockson) Berge, was born on January 17, 1913, on a farm northwest of Bode. After graduating from the Bode High School in 1931, he attended Luther College in Decorah and then studied law under Judge D. F. Coyle in Humboldt. On June 4, 1936, he was admitted to the Iowa State Bar.

On December 31, 1935, he married Mary Leitl at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. He assisted his parents in farming until December 1, 1937. He started his law practice in Garner on December 1, 1937. The Berges raised four children, Ann, Barbara, Donald and Alan. On October 15, 1981, his wife Mary died after an extended time with cancer. On November 6, 1982, he married Violet Holden at the Zion Lutheran Church in Clear Lake.

B.C. had lived in Garner since December 1, 1937. His hobbies included music, fishing, golfing and traveling. He sang in the St. Olaf Lutheran Church Choir at Bode and the St. Paul Lutheran Church Choir in Garner for over 50 years. He played the cornet at the Bode High School and in the Luther College Concert Band and the mellophone in the Old Timers Band in Garner. On December 1, 1987, B.C. retired from his law practice after 50 years of service to the community of Garner and the surrounding areas.

He was a member of the St. Paul Lutheran Church, where he had served as choir director, a member of the building committee, a member of the committee for acquiring a pipe organ for the new church, and as secretary of the church for a period of years. He was a member of the Iowa State Bar Association, the Hancock County Bar Association, served a term as President of the 2A District Bar Association, and was a member and served as secretary for a term in the Garner Chamber of Commerce. B.C. was a charter member of the Garner Rotary Club, which he helped organize and which received its Charter on January 4, 1940.

He served a term on the Garner City Council and thereafter served a period of seven years as the City Attorney. In the days when there was a County Superintendent of Schools, he served on the Hancock County Board of Education. As a part owner he, with other part owners, platted Clear View Addition to Garner. As an attorney, he encouraged and assisted others in platting eight other additions to the town of Garner. He was an originator with other Garner citizens for what is now known as the Concord Care Center, Prairie View Apartments, the Garner Golf Course and Central Park. Members of the community will long remember the Concolor pine tree decorated with blue lights for the Christmas season at the Berge residence for a period of 39 years.

He is survived by his wife, Vi of Garner; his children, Barbara (Larry) Weians of Parkville, Missouri, Dr. Donald (Nicky) Berge of Clear Lake and Alan (Carol) Berge of Clear Lake; his son-in-law, Harry (Anne) Anderson of Garner; ten grandchildren, Timothy Anderson, Valerie (Tom) Alden, Lorelei (Michael) Flanigan, Sara (Scott) Wagner, Andrew (Majo) Christensen, Heidi (Keith) Weaver, Shannon (Nicole) Berge, Kendra (Mark) Holtkamp, Leslie (Dean) Walston and Alex Berge; seven great-grandchildren, Olivia and Erik Wagner, Aitana Christensen-Rivera, Kylie and Collin Berge and Kaia and Tatum Holtkamp.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary; his daughter, Ann; his parents; sister, Thelma Tonderum; and brothers, Harold, Ernest and Dr. Earl Berge.

©The Garner Leader & Signal 2006