Vera Berge

Vera F. Berge, 98, passed away at her home in Bismarck on Friday, January 16, 2009. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday at 11:00 AM at Faith Lutheran Church in Bismarck with Rev. Chris Alexander officiating. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held on Monday from 5:00 – 8:00 PM at Eastgate Funeral Service. Vera was born on October 8, 1910, to Blanche and George Inman at the homestead in Midway, Billings County, North Dakota. She grew up in Amidon, Slope County, where she attended grammar school and the first two years of high school. She graduated from Dickinson Model High School two months after the stock market crash in 1929. After attending Dickinson State Normal School, Vera worked for the White Lake School District, Slope County, teaching students in a drafty one-room school house. She learned to play the piano at the Inman Brothers’ hall in Amidon and loved to dance the Charleston to the music of the Sans Souci Band which was a favorite at the time. In 1932, Vera moved to Bismarck and worked for the State Highway Department which was the first department to move into the almost completed Capitol building. She signed the scroll which was placed in the cornerstone of the new Capitol building. She married Einar Berge and they had seven children. Einar died in 1955. Over the years, Vera was involved in many civic activities and organizations – as a leader for Boy and Girl Scout troups, the Jolly Homemakers, the AmVets Ladies Auxiliary, the American Legion Auxiliary, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary. She enjoyed ceramic classes at the Senior Citizens Center and volunteered there when she was in her 80’s. She attended Trinity Lutheran and Faith Lutheran Churches and taught Sunday School at Trinity. She worked at the Missouri Valley now Mid-Dakota Clinic until she retired. Vera had a remarkably sharp memory – at her 90th birthday party she entertained us by reciting poems she had memorized in grammar school, and by recalling the names of grammar school classmates and her students. She was always interested in politics. She enjoyed working on many campaigns, staffing the election polls and staunchly supporting her favorite candidates. Vera is survived by her children, Bea Sil Giusti, CA, George Lorraine Berge, CA, Sonya Myron Mosset, Bismarck, ND, Sandy Boehler, Fargo, ND, Russ Berge, NC, Cheryl Bob Lamp, MN, Rick Pam Berge, Bismarck, ND, and daughter-in-law Elaine Fikso; 13 grandchildren, Gary Sherrill Giusti, Steve Celeste Giusti, Mike Chelsea Giusti, Mark, Susan, and Scott Berge, Lisa Paul Genter, Jeff Brenda Boehler, Barbara Rodd Jose, Vicki Surprise, Chad Kari Lamp, Paul Melanie Berge, and Jory Kristin Berge; 14 great-grandchildren, Nicholas, Nathan, Matthew, Alison, and Kaelyn Giusti, Alexandra Boehler, Savannah and Ty Jose, Dylan and Jax Surprise, Fischer Lamp, Kendra Lang, and Kennedy and Kadence Berge; her brothers, Russell Helen and Earl; her sister-in-law, Ronnie; and many loving nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Einar; her parents; her brothers, Robert, Richard, and Max Inman; her sisters-in-law, Marian, Drucilla, and Peggy Inman; her step-son, Einar Berge, Jr.; her son-in-law, Adam Boehler; her great-grandson, Colton Jose; and her second husband, Jake Schlichenmayer.

Vera Berge

October 8, 1910 - January 16, 2009