Kenneth Berg
Nov. 19, 1923-Oct. 18, 2017
Kenneth Berg, age 93,
resident of Lignite, ND,
died Wednesday, October
18, 2017 at the Wellington
Senior Living in Minot,
ND.
Kenneth Morten Berg
was born November 19,
1923 to Martin and Kirsti
(Enget) Berg, at their
home in Battleview, ND.
He was baptized by Rev.
A. Buckneberg at Thorson
Hall, later Scandia
Church, Battleview. Ken-
ny was the sixth child of
Martin and Kirsti. Odmar,
Signe, Olga, Magne, and
Arnold were older and El-
len, Harold, Borghild,
Agnes, and Irene were
younger. He attended
grade school at
Pleasantview School,
Battleview. In the fall of
1938, he enrolled as a
freshman at Columbus
High School and graduat-
ed Valedictorian in May
1942. During his senior
year, Kenny was working
at Sevenson’s Red Owl
stocking shelves when he
met Doris Larson, who
worked at the Golden
Rule in Columbus. They
began their courtship dur-
ing this time.
Kenneth went to work
part-time at Truax Traer
Coal Company,
Columbus, from
1943-1944. In 1945, he got
a full-time job with them
as their bookkeeper, and
continued to work there
until it closed in 1968.
Jobs were hard to find
after the war, and Doris
got a job at the post office
in Lignite. With both hav-
ing full-time employment,
they got married on July
28, 1946 at Bethany Luth-
eran Church in Lignite.
The week the mine
closed, April 30, 1968,
Kenneth went to work for
Odlief Berg at Berg’s Red
Owl as a meat cutter. In
1973, Kenny and his son
David purchased Berg’s
Red Owl from Ody and
Bernice, and continued to
run the store until his re-
tirement on October 1,
1988. They sold the store
to Donavan and Joann
Ellis.
When Kenneth moved
to Lignite, he had felt like
a total stranger and found
it difficult being accepted
there, having only been to
Lignite two times prior,
but soon he became very
involved with the com-
munity. He was elected to
the school board in 1952,
before Paul even started
school. He served on the
Lignite School Board until
1977, with the exception
of three years when there
was a three-way tie and
he lost the election. Ken-
ny started serving on the
Lignite City Council by
filling out a term by de-
fault, but ended up serv-
ing on the council from
1984-2006. Kenny was a
charter member of the
Lignite Lions Club, begin-
ning in 1956, until it dis-
banded. He was also a
Sunday School teacher,
treasurer for the church,
was involved in Lignite
housing, and sang many
duets with Doris at fun-
erals.
In 1968, while serving
on both the school board
and Bethany Church
Council, Kenny helped
work through the merger
of Lignite School and Por-
tal School to form Burke
Central, and also the
merger of Bethany, First
Lutheran, and Tonset
Lutheran Church, to form
Christ Lutheran Church.
He was also involved in
the building project for
Christ Lutheran, which
resulted in the beautiful
church today.
Kenny and Doris en-
joyed traveling, especially
to see their family in
places such as Arizona,
Texas, California, and
Norway. He was an avid
sports fan, especially for
his children and
grandchildren’s teams, the
Twins, Timberwolves,
Vikings, and the Lignite
Owls/Burke Central
Panthers/Burke County
Titans.
Kenneth moved to The
Wellington in Minot, ND
in 2014, where he passed
away October 18, 2017.
The weekend prior to his
passing, he was able to at-
tend the wedding of his
granddaughter Kelsey
(Dustin) and got to see so
many of the friends and
family who were special
to him. Kenny was pre-
ceded in death by his
parents, Martin and Kirsti,
wife Doris whom he was
married to for 62 years,
son Paul, brothers Odmar,
Magne, Harold, and Ar-
nold, sisters Olga Carlson
Kristenson and Signe Eg-
gen, and Doris’s parents,
Edward and Tena Larson.
Kenneth is survived by
his son David (Pam) Berg,
daughters Kathleen (Da-
vid) Fagerland and Ruth
(Dean) Carlson,
daughter-in-law Libby
Berg, sisters Ellen Carl-
son, Borghild Berg, Agnes
(Jerry) Hamerlik, and
Irene Hellekson,
grandchildren Andrea
Berg, Rachelle (Chris)
Ritter, Nathan (Mirian)
Berg, Jacob Berg, and their
mother, Cheryl Berg,
Aaron (Jody) and Michael
(Haley) Berg, Tena (Tim)
Ungerman, Kelsey (Dus-
tin) Olson, and Carrie
Fagerland, and Alison and
Adam Carlson,
step-grandchildren Shane
(Tamrin) Fagerland, Shan-
non (Amy) Fagerland, and
Mickey, Mark, and Steven
Perez,
great-grandchildren,
Grant and Blake Berg,
Lauren and Savannah
Berg, Madeline Ritter, and
Ethan and Ellen Unger-
man, and
step-great-grandchildren
Lauren and Blake Fager-
land. He is also survived
by many nieces and
nephews.
The Funeral Service:
will be held at Christ
Lutheran Church on Sa-
turday, October 21, 2017
at 2:00 p.m. A family ser-
vice will be at: 10 a.m. on
Saturday at the church.
Visitation: for friends is
from 11 a.m. to service
time also at the church.
Burial: will be at Bethany
Cemetery, Lignite, ND.
Online condolences
may be shared at
www.springan
funeralhome.com