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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