Merlin Francis BERG

1917 - 1999  (82 years)

• Name	Merlin Francis BERG
  Born	28 Apr 1917	Hodges Township, Stevens County, Minnesota, United States
  	Both the birth certificate and the Notification of Birth Registration for Bud shows that he was born in Hodges Township, Stevens County, Minnesota. His death certificate says that he was born in Cyrus, Minnesota, because they required me to put the name of the nearest city or town, not a township. He was actually born in Hodges Township, Stevens County, Minnesota as shown on his birth certificate. The marriage certificate for his son Marty to Jerrilee Lucas shows his birthplace as Starbuck, Minn. The Social Security Applications and Claims Index shows his year of birth as 1916. Not sure why it includes St. Lou in the birthplace. The Dokken-Rollofson book gives his birthplace as Cyrus, MN.
  Christened	21 Oct 1917	Hodges Township, Stevens County, Minnesota, United States
  	The baptismal sponsors for Merlin Francis were Victor and Lillie Runquist and the parents. Lillie Runquist was a sister to Axel Berg.
  Gender	Male
  Census	3 Jan 1920	Hodges Township, Stevens County, Minnesota, United States
  	1920 federal census
  School	1923-1924	Starbuck, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	District 61
  School	1924-1925	Lowry, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	District 30
  Census	2 Apr 1930	Glenwood, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	1930 federal census
  Residence	1935	, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	The 1940 census shows that Bud had been living in rural Pope County in 1935.
  Graduation	1937	Villard, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	Villard High School Class of 1937
  Residence	1938	Glenwood, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	According to the obituary for his mother, Jessie Berg, Bud lived in Glenwood at the time his mother died.
  Census	15 Apr 1940	Starbuck, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	1940 Federal
  	Bud, shown as Merlyn, was renting a room from Raymond and Lorraine Heggestad and their infant daughter Sharon for $4 per month. The residence was not on a farm. He was 22 years old, born in Minnesota and had completed 4 years of high school. In 1935 he had been living in rural Pope county, but not on a farm. He was working as a waiter in a restaurant having worked 48 hours in the previous week. He worked 17 weeks in 1939 and his wages were $170 with income from other sources.
  Employment	15 Apr 1940	Starbuck, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	waiter
  	The 1940 census shows Bud was working as a waiter in a restaurant in Starbuck.
  Residence	15 Apr 1940	Starbuck, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	The 1940 census shows that Bud was living in Starbuck, lodging with the Heggestad family, and working as a waiter.
  Military Service	Between 24 Feb 1941 and 18 Dec 1945
  	US Army World War II
  	Merlin enlisted in the U.S. Army at Fort Snelling, MN 24 Feb 1941. He was stationed at Camp Rucker, Alabama at the time of his marriage. He was a corporal at that time. Bud attained the rank of Sargeant by the time he was discharged.
  Attended	3 Nov 1950	Glenwood, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	Mary Reese's funeral
  	Mary Reese's obituary shows that he attended her funeral.
  Occupation	1958 to 1980	, , Minnesota, United States
  	State of Minnesota
  	Bud worked for the State of Minnesota beginning in the early 1950s, first as a grain weigher in Savage and then at Cargill in Mankato. He later became a gas inspector in Minneapolis. In 1970 he became the gas inspector for Faribault, Freeborn, and Mower counties, living at the center of the territory first in Hayward and then in Albert Lea, with his lab in the basement of the home. In 1978 he transitioned to testing scales and moved to Minneapolis for the final stage of his employment career with the State of Minnesota.
  Retired	Jan 1980
  Residence	Oct 1998-28 Dec 1999	Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States
  	zip code 56007
  Died	28 Dec 1999	Albert Lea Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States
  	Cause: Non-Hodgkiins Lymphoma
  	He died at home in the presence of two of his children, Merlin and Cheri, and his son-in-law Phil. Attending physician: Dr. John A. Gryzbowski, M.D. 404 Fountain Street Albert Lea, MN 56007 License No. of Certifier - #41627
  Funeral	31 Dec 1999	Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States
  	Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home
  Hobby	fishing
  Membership	Starbuck, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	Starbuck VFW
  Name	Bud Berg
  Name	Merlin B. Berg
  Name	Merlin Berg
  Name	Merlin F. 'Bud' Berg
  Name	Merlin F. Berg
  Name	Merlin Francis (Bud) Berg
  Name	Merlyn Berg
  Name	Merlyn F. Berg
  Name	Merlyn Francis Berg
  Name	Mr. Merlin Berg
  Occupation	, , Washington, United States
  	painting contractor
  Reference Number	C2
  Buried	31 Dec 1999	Blue Mounds Township, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	Bethesda Covenant/Bethany Lutheran Cemetery Pope County, Minnesota, USA Find A Grave Memorial 73550397
  Notes	WikiTree Profile Berg-1340
  Person ID	I7	BergSletten
  Last Modified	3 Jan 2022

  
  

  Father	August Axel BERG,   b. 2 Aug 1874, Ishpeming, Marquette County, Michigan, United States ,   d. 4 May 1933, Villard, Pope County, Minnesota, United States  (Age 58 years)
  Mother	Jessie Minnie REESE,   b. 21 Jun 1893, , Faribault County, Minnesota, United States ,   d. 19 Jun 1938, , Pope County, Minnesota, United States  (Age 44 years)
  Married	10 Apr 1912	, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	Jessie's obituary in the Glenwood Herald and the Pope County Tribune incorrectly gives the marriage date as April 10, 1911. According to the marriage return, J. Ed Nelson and N. W. Nelson witnessed the marriage. The Bethany Lutheran Church membership register incorrectly gives the date of their marriage as 5 April 1912. The Dokken-Rollofson book shows that Axel and Jessie were married in Hancock. The Lashway book shows that they were married 10 Apr 1912 in Hancock, Stevens County, MN. They were actually married at the home of the bride's parents, which was in Pope County with a post office address of Hancock.
  Residence	1913-1914	Starbuck, Pope County, Minnesota, United States of America
  Residence	1916-1920	Hodges Township, Stevens County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	R. F. D. 3 Hancock (near Cyrus)
  Residence	1921-1922	New Prairie Township, Pope County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	near Cyrus
  Church	1912-1923	Blue Mounds Township, Pope County, Minnesota, United States
  	Bethany Lutheran Church
  	The Bethany Lutheran Church membership register shows that they were members, presumably from the time of their marriage, until 15 Jan 1923 when their membership was removed to Cyrus. Shortly after this they moved physically moved to Lowry. It is unknown what the status of their church membership was then.
  Residence	Villard, Pope County, Minnesota, United States of America
  Residence	1924-	Lowry, Pope County, Minnesota, United States of America
  Residence	1923-	White Bear Lake Township, Pope County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	about one mile north of Starbuck
  Residence	Leven Township, Pope County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	east shore of Lake Amelia
  Residence	1930	Glenwood, Pope County, Minnesota, United States of America
  Albums		BERG-REESE (16) Media pertaining to Axel Berg and Jessie Reese and their descendents.
  Family ID	F2	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Doris Irene CHANDLER,   b. 19 Jul 1919, Orondo, Douglas County, Washington, United States ,   d. 3 Oct 1994, Coon Rapids, Anoka County, Minnesota, United States  (Age 75 years)
  Married	15 Aug 1942	Dothan, Houston County, Alabama, United States of America
  	The marriage certificate for Merlin F. Berg and Doris Irene Chandler was issued by Dale County, which is the county where Camp Rucker was located, but they were actually married in Dothan, which is in Houston County. I suspect this had something to do with the military jurisdiction. They were married at the Episcopal Church in Dothan. While in Olympia, Doris worked as a nanny for the Jessup family. She also lived with them. Mr. Jessup was a minister at the Episcopal Church in Olympia. He wrote Doris a letter that she took to the minister at the church in Dothan as a reference so they could be married in a church. Otherwise, the army would probably have preferred them to be married on post. Doris took the bus from Washington and spent the night she arrived in the guest house. She shared a room with a woman named Eleanor. Years later, after moving to Hayward, Minnesota in 1971, Bud and Doris became acquainted with a couple called Lornie and Eleanor Stotts. Lornie was the janitor at the elementary school in Hayward. Eleanor had stayed at the guest house at Camp Rucker in mid-August 1942 and roomed with a woman named Doris.
  Residence	Between 15 Aug 1942 and Apr 1943	Ozark, Dale County, Alabama, United States of America
  Residence	Between Apr 1943 and Jun 1943	, , Minnesota, United States
  Residence	Between 28 Jul 1943 and Sep 1943	, , Washington, United States of America
  	Presumably Orondo, but the source did not specify.
  Residence	Between Sep 1943 and 29 Nov 1943	Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States of America
  Residence	Between 29 Nov 1943 and Apr 1944	Nipomo, San Luis Obispo County, California, United States of America
  Residence	Between Apr 1944 and Jun 1944	Smartsville, Yuba County, California, United States of America
  Residence	Between Jun 1944 and Dec 1945	Orondo, Douglas County, Washington, United States of America
  	Doris lived with her parents while Bud was overseas. Her first child, Merlin, was born during this time.
  Residence	Between Dec 1945 and May 1947	Orondo, Douglas County, Washington, United States of America
  	Bud, Doris and Merlin lived in several locations during this time frame: Lived in Uncle Clyde's house Stayed with Oatey children Lived in Bud Johnson's house The Henderson House The folks little House   Mart is born Oct. 26, 1946
  Residence	Between May 1947 and Jun 1949	East Wenatchee, Douglas County, Washington, United States of America
  Residence	Between Jun 1949 and Aug 1951	Twisp, Okanogan County, Washington, United States of America
  	Doris Berg's list of residences shows that they lived in Twisp from June 1949 till Aug. 1951. Mary Reese's obituary, in 1950, shows that Bud was living in Twisp, Washington.
  Residence	Between Aug 1951 and Sep 1952	Orchard Gardens, Dakota County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	Information on the internet (24 Jun 2021) places Orchard Gardens in Burnsville, Dakota County, but previously I thought I identified it as part of Bloomington, Hennepin County. The Berg family lived in two different locations during this time frame, identified by Doris as the little house and the big house. They moved to Orchard Gardens because Bud's sister, Florence, and her husband, Steve, lived there. Merlin recalls that one of these houses had a dirt floor, probably the little house.
  Residence	Between Sep 1952 and May 1953	Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	78th & Lyndale
  Residence	Between May 1953 and Jan 1956	Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	200 W 98th
  	1955 Minneapolis Directory shows that they lived at 200 W 98th which is actually in Bloomington. Although the 1953 Minneapolis Directory shows that they lived at 8016 Lyndale Av S, they did not. That is the address of the bank Doris worked at.
  Residence	Between Jan 1956 and Aug 1959	Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	100 W 93rd
  	The 1957-1959 Minneapolis City Directory shows that Bud and Doris lived at 100 W 93rd, which is actually in Bloomington.
  Residence	Between Aug 1959 and Mar 1960	North Mankato, Nicollet County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	803 South Ave
  	Earl's obit says that Doris lived in Minneapolis at the time of his death in 1956.
  Residence	Between Mar 1960 and Nov 1963	North Mankato, Nicollet County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	716 Lyndale
  	The 1960 Mankato City Directory shows that the Berg family lived at 716 Lyndale in North Mankato. The 1960 Minneapolis City Directory confirms that they lived in North Mankato.
  Residence	Between Nov 1963 and 6 Jun 1964	North Mankato, Nicollet County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	814 1/2 Wall St.
  Residence	Between 6 Jun 1964 and 17 Jun 1971	Bloomington, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	8830 12th Ave S
  	Ranald Chandler's obituary says that his sister, Doris Berg, was living in Minnesota at the time of his death in Mar 1971.
  Residence	Between 17 Jun 1971 and 5 Apr 1973	Hayward, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States of America
  Residence	Between 5 Apr 1973 and Feb 1979	Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States
  	1321 Louis St.
  	Although the list of places they had lived that Doris Berg made shows that they left Albert Lea in Feb 1978, it was actually Feb 1979, the year that Cheri graduated from high school.
  Residence	Between Feb 1979 and 1 Aug 1980	Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	10th Ave S.
  	Although the list of places they had lived created by Doris Berg showed that they moved to Minneapolis in Feb 1978, it was actually Feb 1979, the year that Cheri graduated from high school.
  Residence	Between Aug 1980 and Sep 1981	Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	10th Ave S
  Residence	Between Sep 1981 and 10 Jun 1982	Coon Rapids, Anoka County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	11010 Mississippi Blvd. Apt. 304
  Residence	Between 10 Jun 1982 and Oct 1998	Coon Rapids, Anoka County, Minnesota, United States of America
  	11020 Mississippi Blvd. Apt. 107 zip code 55433
  	In her brother Ernie's obituary (1986), Doris is shown to be living in Coon Rapids, Minn. The U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 gives the following address for Doris I. Berg without specifying a year:      11020 Mississippi Blvd NW Apt 107, Minneapolis, MN, 55433-3579 The address shown on Doris' death certificate (1994):      11020 Mississippi Blvd. NW Her obituary simply says Coon Rapids. The zip code for Doris' last residence shown on the SSDI is 55407. Probably the zip code for the bank where her Social Security was direct deposited.
  Children	1. Living   2. Living   3. Cheryl Rae BERG,   b. 10 Jul 1961, Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, United States ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Albums		BERG-CHANDLER (10) Media pertaining to Bud Berg and Doris Chandler and their descendents.
  Last Modified	28 Jun 2021
  Family ID	F4	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Graduation - Villard High School Class of 1937 - 1937 - Villard, Pope County, Minnesota, United States Residence - 1321 Louis St. - Between 5 Apr 1973 and Feb 1979 - Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States Residence - zip code 56007 - Oct 1998-28 Dec 1999 - Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States Died - Cause: Non-Hodgkiins Lymphoma - 28 Dec 1999 - Albert Lea Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States Funeral - Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home - 31 Dec 1999 - Albert Lea, Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States Buried - 31 Dec 1999 - Blue Mounds Township, Pope County, Minnesota, United States  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Bud Berg Graduation Photo
  		Bud & Doris Berg This photo was taken in 1976 for their 34th wedding anniversary.
  		Bert & Mary Reese 50th Anniversary Bert and Mary Reese at their home in Glenwood, Minnesota with Florence, Vi (Tholen), and Bud Berg at their 50th wedding anniversary party. Bert is wearing Bud's military jacket.
  		Bud Berg and Claremont Berg This photo was taken in Aunt Julia's back yard in Spokane, Washington on 10 Jul 1976.
  		Chandler Family Photo 1949 Earl and Emma Chandler with their children and grandchildren on the ferry in Orondo. Ranald is in the window. Left to Right standing: Vi, Vera, Vern, Jim holding Norm, Doris, Bud, Annamae, Lila, Cecil, Earl, Emma. In Front: Colleen, Morris holding Suzanne and Dennis, Marty behind Howard, Howard holding Chris, Perry sitting in front, Merlin…
  		Bud & Doris Berg Wedding Photograph Corporal Berg Takes a Wife Corporal Merlin F. Berg of Co. D was united in marriage to Miss Doris Chandler of Orondo, Washington Saturday, August 15th. The ceremony was held in the Episcopal Church of Dothan at four o'clock with Rev. Madson officiating at the private double ring ceremony. Sergeant Edwin H. Bye was best man and Miss Ethyl…
  		Bud & Doris Berg Family Photograph 1962 As the story goes, this photograph was taken on a very hot day just before Merlin left for the Navy.

  
  

  Documents		Bud Berg Baptism Certificate Bud was baptized at home by Pastor Lindahl from the Bethany Lutheran Church where his father's family were members. His father's sister, Lillie, and her husband were the sponsors.
  		Bud & Doris Berg Marriage Certificate This marriage certificate was issued by Dale County, Alabama where Camp Rucker was located. They were actually married at the Episcopal Church in Dothan, which is in Houston County.

  
  

  Headstones		Bud and Doris Berg Grave Marker This image shows the stone that marks the graves of Bud and Doris Berg in the Bethesda Covenant/Bethany Lutheran Cemetery located in Blue Mounds Township, Pope County, Minnesota.
  		Bud Berg Military Grave Marker This image shows the plaque that marks the grave and commemorates the military service of Merlin F. Berg in the Bethesda Covenant/Bethany Lutheran Cemetery located in Blue Mounds Township, Pope County, Minnesota.