Edward D. Berg, “Dewayne” passed away at age 85 on Saturday, Nov. 28th after a one year battle with dementia. Born January 22, 1935 in Guymon, OK, he was the son of Albert Edward Berg and Ruth Pauline Smith. The grandson of immigrant Norwegians, Dewayne grew up in a large, hard working family of farmers and laborers. He was especially close to his Norwegian grandmother, Olga Eline Meinhart Berg. The family was musical and close knit.
Following graduation from Guymon High School, Dewayne served four years in the United States Air Force, attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant. When he returned from his service, he met and married Glenda LaVerne Lovinggood in 1959.
Putting his military education benefits to use, Dewayne graduated with a business degree from Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma in 1962. The couple’s toddler twin daughters, Kim and Kathe, attended their father’s graduation. A third daughter, Cynthia, completed the family the following year.
Dewayne and Glenda moved to Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Tennessee as he advanced his career in the petroleum industry as a well respected Land Man. They settled in Forney, Texas in 1984 and lived there until his passing.
Dewayne and Glenda became members of the First Baptist Church of Forney in 1998. They shepherded hundreds of youth as volunteer leaders in the Bible Drill program for 17 years.
A poet from his youth, Dewayne was artistically talented and became a painter in his later years. He designed and built various pieces of furniture, including a gazebo for his home in Forney. Always handy with tools, he repaired and maintained not only his vehicles, but also plumbing, carpentry, floors and walls in his home for 35+ years.
Taking up golf in his mid-40s, Dewayne became a great fan of the sport and played as often as possible for nearly four decades. He participated in and won many golfing tournaments in the years after his retirement, and found great joy in the camaraderie of his golfing buddies. His other passions were card games (he was Master of Spades), board games and dominoes, always a staple at family gatherings.
Dewayne was a lifelong fan of cowboy books, movies and TV series, hailing his heroes Gene Autry, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers and John Wayne. His favorite TV characters were Matt Dillon (Gunsmoke) and Lucas McCain (The Rifleman). As his vision and hearing faded, one of his greatest joys was watching the old movies and series from his youth and sharing them with family, along with stories of his youngest days working on the farms of his family.
Dewayne is survived by his wife of 61 years, Glenda LaVerne Lovinggood Berg, sister Linda Hutches, daughter Kim Berg (Randy Evans) and her sons Michael and Charles, daughter Kathe Kitchens and her daughters Kirby and Shaun (Miles Kroeger), daughter Cynthia Ren Berg and son Christopher Cordier (Adrianna Lopez) and seven greatgrandchildren. His parents and brother, Ronnie Berg, preceded him in death.
The family will hold a private memorial in the near future. In memory of Dewayne’s life, they ask that donations be made in his name to the hunger programs Feeding America, (feedingamerica.org), The Farmlink Project (farmlinkproject.org) and frontline workers support program Give Essential (giveessential.org).
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.