Mikel Berger’s Bailiwick

My grandpa passed away this past Saturday. Monday was the viewing and yesterday was the funeral. It was pretty neat to see so many people come out for a 93 year old man who has long outlived most of his generation.

I remember working on the farm with Dad, Grandpa, and my brother. In particular, I remember one afternoon I was probably about 14 when Dad sent me out to bale straw with just Grandpa. It was my job to drive the tractor with Grandpa on the back to stack all the bales. I hope I’m doing that well when I’m 78 and also as well as Grandpa was at 93 up until the just the last week of his life.

I was asked to read several passages of scripture at the funeral. The last one was 1 Thessalonians 4:10b-14

But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

Living quietly, minding your own affairs, and working hard are pretty much how I would describe Grandpa.

My cousin Alicia has a nice post over on her blog.

It also seems that the papers only keep obituataries online for 30 days, so I’ve copied it here.

March 23, 1914 – Feb. 2, 2008

NAPPANEE – Harold E. Berger, 93, of 1700 Waterfall Drive, died at 9:35 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2 in Elkhart General Hospital, where he had been a patient for one week, after a brief illness. He was born March 23, 1914, in Nappanee to Ervin and Ella Bellman Berger. He was a lifetime resident of Nappanee and graduated from Nappanee High School in 1932. On March 24, 1940, he married Sarah Ruth Chamberlin. She preceded him in death on August 27,1977. His second marriage was to Virginia Reed, she preceded him in death July 2, 2006. Mr. Berger was a retired farmer and a member of the Nappanee United Methodist Church. He is survived by three sons, David (Karen) Berger of Nappanee, Robert (Maria) Berger of South Bend and Donald (Rita) Berger of Wakarusa; eight grandchildren, Robert (Jennifer) Berger, James and Todd Berger, all of South bend, Erin (Todd) Stammich of Lakeville, Mikel (Jessica) Berger of Camden, David Berger of California, Alicia (Matt) Hahn of Wakarusa and Kristina (Steven) Clark of North Carolina; and three great-grandchildren, Lexi, Robert and Cassandra Berger, all of South Bend. He was preceded in death by three brothers, Richard, Stanley and Dale Berger; and a sister, Bernice Knepp. Funeral survives will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Nappanee United Methodist Church, with David Harrold, pastor of the church will officiating. Burial will be at Union Center Cemetery. Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. today in Thompson-Lengacher & Yoder Funeral Home, Nappanee, and one hour before services in the church. Memorial contributions may be made to the Nappanee United Methodist Church.
Published in the South Bend Tribune on 2/4/2008.