Berge, Philip Norman 1914-2010
BERGE, ASK, NELSON, GRINNA, HANSON, SPAIN, MCDOWELL, MENASHES, TEYNOR
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 8/14/2012 at 12:45:09
P. Norman Berge, age 96, died Tuesday evening, October 26, 2010 at Winneshiek Medical Center in Decorah, IA.
Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Saturday, October 30, 2010 at First Lutheran Church in Decorah with Rev. Marion Pruitt-Jefferson officiating. Burial will be in Lutheran Cemetery in Decorah.
Visitation will begin at 1:00 P.M. Saturday, one hour before services, at First Lutheran Church in Decorah. Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah is serving the family.
Philip Norman Berge was born April 9, 1914 in Glenwood Township, rural Decorah, Iowa, the son of Olaus and Sophie (Ask) Berge. He attended country school in the Decorah area, and started working in the construction business with Albert Hendrickson and A. R. Coffeen.
He was united in marriage to Edna J. Nelson on June 15, 1940 at First Lutheran Church by Rev. T.A. Hoff.
Norman co-owned the Calmar Wagon Co., later Berge Manufacturing, Inc., in Calmar, with his brothers Roy and Otto from 1947 to 1952. He founded Berge, Inc., a building construction/contracting business in 1952 and built or remodeled many private homes and commercial buildings in Decorah. After selling the business to Brown Builders, Inc. in 1981, he was a locksmith until 1999.
He was active in First Lutheran Church, serving on the Board of Trustees and the Building committee, Aase Haugen Home Board, Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum Board, and was instrumental in bringing Camcar and Rockwell-Collins Industries to Decorah. He was a member of the Elks Lodge and Oneota Golf and Country Club and enjoyed playing golf and cards.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Edna on March 6, 2001; two sisters, Stella Grinna and Thelma in infancy; and by five brothers: Irvin, Roy, Carl, Walter and Otto.
Norman is survived by one son, Darrell (Beth) Berge, Coon Rapids, MN; three daughters, Eileen (David) Hanson, Newtown, CT, Janelle Spain, Redondo Beach, CA, and Marilyn (Frank) McDowell, Worthington, MN; seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren: Emily and Matt Menashes, Rebecca Hanson, Greg and Heidi Berge and their children Jackson and Emma, Keely and Tom Teynor and their children Hayden and Halle, Jenna Spain, Anna McDowell and Alex McDowell.
Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database
Lutheran Cemetery, Decorah
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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