2008-02 Gudrun Bergh 1904-2008

Ray's grandma, Gudrun Bergh, who we knew as Nanny, passed away peacefully on Valentines Day, February 14th, 2008. She was 104 years young. I marvel at the changes in life that she witnessed in those 104 years. From cars and airplanes to TV to space travel. From coal furnaces to and wood stoves to oil burning and natural gas to natural gas. From ice boxes to refrigerators. I'll remember her cooking Malto Meal for me and grandpa for breakfast, all her Christmas cookies, and eating around the big dining room table, or on TV trays in the living room when we had really large gatherings. I remember the stuffed sock monkey in the bedroom that always scared the bejeeberz out of me. I will remember my kids calling her Grandma Little since she was so tiny.

Her funeral was Monday in the church she was baptized in and became a lifelong member. I was honored to be one of the pallbearers

We had gotten together in early January to celebrate her 104th birthday. Her brother Roald also was able to attend the party

From her obituary:

Gudrun Fredrikke Ager Bergh, 104, a lifetime resident of Eau Claire passed away on Thursday, February 14, 2008, at the Syverson Home.
She was born January 5, 1904, in the family home on Chestnut Street to Waldemar Theodor and Gurolle (Blestren) Ager as the second of nine children in the family.

Gudrun married Milo Bergh on August 14, 1929, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Red Wing, MN.

She began her schooling at the Norwegian School (located on Fifth Avenue and Hudson Street) for her first year of classes before attending the Eau Claire public schools. After high school she attended Hunt’s Business College in Eau Claire and then worked for several years in the offices of Samuelson’s Dry Goods Store and the Midelfort Clinic prior to her marriage.

Gudrun lived independently in her own home past age 100 at which time she fell and broke her hip. She has since then been a resident of the Syverson Lutheran Home in Eau Claire. She celebrated her 100th birthday at a party given by her daughters at the Ager House where she had been born 100 years earlier. Her hobbies included crafts, crewel embroidery, Norwegian needlework, reading, organizing photo albums, and her Norwegian heritage. She thoroughly enjoyed a trip to Norway in 1983 with her daughter.

She was a lifetime member of First Lutheran Church and, in younger days, was active in youth groups, choir, Ladies Aid, and church circles. She also had been a member of Luther Hospital Guild, Eau Claire Women’s Club, Order of Eastern Star, Sons of Norway, Nordmanns Forbundet, the Ager Association, and the Eau Claire Camera Club. Gudrun is the last surviving member of her Sewing Club which had about a dozen members and was organized when she was a teenager. The group retained close friendships throughout their lifetimes until 2000 when the last other surviving member died.

We will all miss her