Don Berg

From the Salem Covenant Church Blog.

Donald H. Berg, 82 years young, formerly of Worcester, died on Thursday morning, April 30th. His wife of 55 years, Louise May (Rollins) Berg, predeceased him in June of 2008. He leaves his daughter, Jennie Lucretia and her husband John Pagano; a granddaughter, Nina Lucretia Pagano; a grandson, Michael Angelo Pagano, all of Paxton; his brother, John Berg of Maine; his sister, Natalie McNerney of Lincoln; and many nephews, nieces, cousins, and dear friends. His beloved daughter, Nancy Ann Berg, died in 1969. Most proud to be a Worcester native born and bred with Swedish heritage, he never tired of sharing stories of events from the past.

Born on November 1st, 1926 in Worcester to C. Harold and Elizabeth Marie (Selen) Berg, Donald immediately began his gregarious and never ending grassroots campaign to spread good cheer and leave no one in his path untouched. He graduated from Classical High School, worked in the family lumber business, and went on to attend Massachusetts State College at Amherst, HQ. Army Training Schools. Donald served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, 1943-1946, and attained the rank of Sergeant in the 6th Air Force, with the bulk of his deployment spent at Ancon Hill, Albrook Field in the Canal Zone, Panama. As he liked to tell the tale, “wearing nothing but my boots, holster and sunshine.” Studying on the G.I. Bill, Donald graduated in 1949 from North Park College in Chicago, Illinois, finding time between high jinks to both attend classes and actively support the sponsored club, sports and band activities on campus. He returned to Worcester to enter the lumber business with his father, and to begin his family on Vernon Hill by marrying the petite Louise May Rollins, a graduate of the Memorial School of Nursing, on February 28, 1953. He and his brother Jack represented the 3rd generation of Stone & Berg Lumber Company, Inc. (established in 1883), with Donald retiring as President in 1991.

Donald was very active in civic, social and religious activities: he served as a Director for six years on each of the following boards: Friends of North Park University (Illinois), Pilgrim Pines Covenant Church Camp (New Hampshire), Cromwell Children’s Home (Connecticut), and the East Coast Conference of the Covenant Church. As a member of Salem Square Covenant Church since 1939, (and later the Salem Covenant Church) he served as Deacon, Steward, Sunday School Teacher and member of the Te Deum Male Chorus. He was Chairman on the committee which brought four Billy Graham movies into Worcester theaters for the viewing public in the 1970’s. Donald was a member of the Worcester Host Lions Club, as well as the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, during his years in the business arena. He thoroughly enjoyed the more recent camaraderie of his friends at Southgate, and the membership he was offered in the Albanian Men’s Club of St. Mary’s Assumption Albanian Orthodox Church.

By shear force of personality and good cheer, he was a local notable and much beloved. His all encompassing humor and boisterous voice of inclusion will surely be missed by many. Donald simply loved life and found his greatest pleasure and inspiration in every possible opportunity.

Don was instrumental in Brown Hymnal Society. He took great interest in Covenant music and in the heritage of E.A. Hultmann the Sunshine Singer who was Pastor at the Salem Square Covenant Church in Worcester at the beginning of the century.