Adele Berg

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Adele Margaret Berg passed away peacefully on Sept. 16, 2020.

She was born in Brooklyn on November 12, 1923, one of nine children born to Frederich and Katharine Fellner.

Growing up, she spent time in both Brooklyn and Andes. Adele graduated from the prestigious Girls High School in Brooklyn. During World War II, like many women of her generation, she was employed in a factory making war supplies. In her later years, she honored her work making airplane parts at Bendix Aviation in Teterboro, N.J. by proudly displaying the classic “Rosie the Riveter” image in her apartment.

Upon the death of her mother in 1944, she became the caretaker for her three younger brothers. The family lived on the farm of her uncle, Charles Lutjen, up Bussey Hollow in Andes. Adele didn’t drive so she got a ride to Andes every week on the milk truck. Aasta Berg saw this intelligent and industrious person and thought she would be a fine date for her brother, Kaare, who had recently returned after serving in Japan during the war. She arranged a double date for New Year’s eve 1946. Adele and Kaare were married eleven months later. Together they raised six children on Uncle Charlie’s farm.

Adele’s life wasn’t always easy; but she never complained. She met every challenge with a sense of optimism and a determination to make the best of the situation. Her family struggled during the Depression. When she took on the role of caretaker for her siblings and her uncle, she had little experience in cooking or sewing. So she learned, and was soon baking wonderful pies and sewing clothes for the family. She was a thoughtful person who showed kindness to everyone. She was always ready with a cup of coffee or a snack for the fuel deliverymen, meter readers and any others coming to the farm.

Music was a great love and she had eclectic taste. Her CD collection includes everything from Strauss waltzes to Chopin piano concertos to ‘40s big band classics to ‘60s rock and folk. She hummed or sang while she cooked or sat at her sewing machine. Her voice was strong and clear to the end and she enjoyed singing along with church hymns whenever she could. She was a member of the Andes Methodist Church and the First United Methodist Church of Oneonta.

Adele loved to travel and the list of places she hoped to see included the mountains of North Carolina, the Texas Hill Country and the Pacific Ocean. She and Kaare moved to Hendersonville, N.C., in 1992. After Kaare’s death, she flew to Seattle to visit her daughter Linda where she frolicked in the sand on the Pacific beach. Sadly, she never made it to the Texas Hill Country.

She was fiercely independent and relished living in her own apartment in Oneonta. When she could no longer safely live by herself, Adele became part of the family at Robynwood in Oneonta where the residents and staff all loved her and miss her smile.

Adele was the last surviving member of her generation in her family. She was predeceased by her husband Kaare; her eight siblings Paul, Carl, Fred, Robert, Catherine, Adolf, John and Emanuel; her in-laws and her cousin MaryLou Mooney, who was like a sister.

She was also predeceased by two daughters Patricia and Lise. 

She is survived by her children Ellen Berg (Joe Teixeria), Kathy Berg (Ed Fersch), Paul Berg (Donna) and Linda Berg (Jon Meads); son-in-law Steve Brown; grandson Gabriel Fersch (Hazel); granddaughters Kristina Brown, Alisa Fersch (Henry Adams), Amanda Berg (Ryan Healy), and Maria Berg; great-granddaughter Aleya Fersch and numerous nieces and nephews.

Adele’s wish that her children have happy memories of growing up on the beautiful farm of their beloved Uncle Charlie in Bussey Hollow was certainly realized. 

Her ashes will be interred next to her husband’s in the Andes Cemetery.