Kenneth Berg, age 93, resident of Lignite, ND, died Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at the Wellington Senior Living in Minot, ND.

Kenneth Morten Berg was born November 19, 1923 to Martin and Kirsti (Enget) Berg, at their home in Battleview, ND. He was baptized by Rev. A. Buckneberg at Thorson Hall, later Scandia Church, Battleview. Kenny was the sixth child of Martin and Kirsti. Odmar, Signe, Olga, Magne, and Arnold were older and Ellen, Harold, Borghild, Agnes, and Irene were younger. He attended grade school at Pleasantview School, Battleview. In the fall of 1938, he enrolled as a freshman at Columbus High School and graduated Valedictorian in May 1942. During his senior year, Kenny was working at Sevenson’s Red Owl stocking shelves when he met Doris Larson, who worked at the Golden Rule in Columbus. They began their courtship during this time.

Kenneth went to work part-time at Truax Traer Coal Company, Columbus, from 1943-1944. In 1945, he got a full-time job with them as their bookkeeper, and continued to work there until it closed in 1968. Jobs were hard to find after the war, and Doris got a job at the post office in Lignite. With both having full-time employment, they got married on July 28, 1946 at Bethany Lutheran Church in Lignite.

The week the mine closed, April 30, 1968, Kenneth went to work for Odlief Berg at Berg’s Red Owl as a meat cutter. In 1973, Kenny and his son David purchased Berg’s Red Owl from Ody and Bernice, and continued to run the store until his retirement on October 1, 1988. They sold the store to Donavan and Joann Ellis.

When Kenneth moved to Lignite, he had felt like a total stranger and found it difficult being accepted there, having only been to Lignite two times prior, but soon he became very involved with the community. He was elected to the school board in 1952, before Paul even started school. He served on the Lignite School Board until 1977, with the exception of three years when there was a three-way tie and he lost the election. Kenny started serving on the Lignite City Council by filling out a term by default, but ended up serving on the council from 1984-2006. Kenny was a charter member of the Lignite Lions Club, beginning in 1956, until it disbanded. He was also a Sunday School teacher, treasurer for the church, was involved in Lignite housing, and sang many duets with Doris at funerals.

In 1968, while serving on both the school board and Bethany Church Council, Kenny helped work through the merger of Lignite School and Portal School to form Burke Central, and also the merger of Bethany, First Lutheran, and Tonset Lutheran Church, to form Christ Lutheran Church. He was also involved in the building project for Christ Lutheran, which resulted in the beautiful church today.

Kenny and Doris enjoyed traveling, especially to see their family in places such as Arizona, Texas, California, and Norway. He was an avid sports fan, especially for his children and grandchildren’s teams, the Twins, Timberwolves, Vikings, and the Lignite Owls/Burke Central Panthers/Burke County Titans.

Kenneth moved to The Wellington in Minot, ND in 2014, where he passed away October 18, 2017. The weekend prior to his passing, he was able to attend the wedding of his granddaughter Kelsey (Dustin) and got to see so many of the friends and family who were special to him.

Kenny was preceded in death by his parents, Martin and Kirsti, wife Doris whom he was married to for 62 years, son Paul, brothers Odmar, Magne, Harold, and Arnold, sisters Olga Carlson Kristenson and Signe Eggen, and Doris’s parents, Edward and Tena Larson.

Kenneth is survived by his son David (Pam) Berg, daughters Kathleen (David) Fagerland and Ruth (Dean) Carlson, daughter-in-law Libby Berg, sisters Ellen Carlson, Borghild Berg, Agnes (Jerry) Hamerlik, and Irene Hellekson, grandchildren Andrea Berg, Rachelle (Chris) Ritter, Nathan (Mirian) Berg, Jacob Berg, and their mother, Cheryl Berg, Aaron (Jody) and Michael (Haley) Berg, Tena (Tim) Ungerman, Kelsey (Dustin) Olson, and Carrie Fagerland, and Alison and Adam Carlson, step-grandchildren Shane (Tamrin) Fagerland, Shannon (Amy) Fagerland, and Mickey, Mark, and Steven Perez, great-grandchildren, Grant and Blake Berg, Lauren and Savannah Berg, Madeline Ritter, and Ethan and Ellen Ungerman, and step-great-grandchildren Lauren and Blake Fagerland. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

Online condolences may be shared at www.springanfuneralhome.com