Gladys O. Berg

Gladys Otilia Berg passed away peacefully at home on March 17, 2021 with her loving husband and children by her side. She was born November 14, 1928 in Sand Creek, Wisconsin to Guy and Mina (Myran) Jenson. The family moved to a farm east of Colfax in 1936. She attended 18-Mile Creek School and graduated from Colfax High School in 1946.

After graduation, Gladys worked in St Paul at a stationery store, at the phone companies in Eau Claire and Colfax before finding her passion in healthcare, first working at St Joseph Hospital in Chippewa Falls, then as a nursing assistant at the Bloomer Maplewood Nursing Home before continuing her education in Physical Therapy and was a therapy aide at Bloomer. In 1974, she received her LPN license from Chippewa Valley Technical College and worked as an aid supervisor for the State of Wisconsin at Northern Center until she retired in 1990.

Gladys married Hjalmer Lind of Colfax in 1949 and, together, they raised 4 children on their homestead farm. They were able to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary before Hjalmer passed away in 2000. She reconnected with Hjalmer’s cousin, Francis Knutson, of Amery. They were married in 2001, and Francis joined Gladys on the homestead farm until he passed away suddenly in 2012. And she was lucky enough to find another wonderful man in Henry Berg. They were married in 2016, and Gladys moved off the farm where she had lived for 67 years to join Henry at his home in Sand Creek.

Gladys enjoyed many interests and hobbies including cooking, baking, sewing, knitting, embroidering, rosemaling, watching sports, jigsaw puzzling, traveling. She was a member of the Colfax Lutheran Church since 1936 and, in recent years, of New Hope Lutheran in Sand Creek. She was also a member of the Town of Howard Auxiliary and the American Legion Auxiliary in Colfax. She made three trips to Norway (1980, 1987, 2013) and was very proud of her Norwegian heritage. Every year she made all the traditional Norwegian food for the holidays. Most of all, she enjoyed each and every minute she spent with family, friends, neighbors and so many she met along her life’s path.

Gladys was preceded in death by her parents, Hjalmer, Francis, one daughter (Wanda Kamrath), two stepsons (Norman Woods and Niles Knutson), one step son-in-law (Dale Ebel), two sisters (Betty Iverson and Margaret Christianson), one granddaughter (Julie Lind), one niece (Katherine Melgaard), four brothers-in-law, six sisters-in-law.

She is survived by her husband Henry, one son Gregory (Sharon) Lind of Eau Claire, two daughters Jane (Ron) Goebel of Shakopee, MN and Carol (Steve) Meyer of Plymouth, MN, one son-in law Jeff (Faye) Kamrath of Excelsior, MN , four stepsons Stephen Berg, Bruce (Celeste) Berg, both of Ridgeland, Gary (Ila) Knutson of Prairie Farm and Dale (Dawn) Knutson of Glen Allen, VA, two stepdaughters Debbie Ebel of Duluth, MN and Patty (Ron) Morning of Sand Creek, two stepdaughters-in-law Marcia Knutson of Sparta and Rebecca Woods of Fridley, MN, one sister Laila Melgaard of Rice Lake, three brothers-in law David Iverson of Monroe and Alden (Gertrude) Berg of Sand Creek, Donald (Judy) Knutson of Barron, two sisters-in-law Amy Dobbs and Theresa Knutson, both of Menomonie, four grandchildren Jessica Lind of Weathorford, TX, Joshua (Erin) Lind of Eau Claire, Lyndee Kamrath (Bryan Van Ruler) of Sioux Falls, SD and William (Tracy) Kamrath of Cologne, MN, nine greatgrandchildren, one great great granddaughter, 17 step grandchildren, 18 step great grandchildren and many cousins, nieces and nephews, great nieces and great nephews, step nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Colfax Lutheran Church on Saturday, July, 24, 2021 at 11:00 AM with a visitation one hour prior to the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to New Hope Lutheran Church Quilters or to Colfax Lutheran Church General Fund. Arrangements are being handled by Olson Funeral Home in Bloomer.