Arlene Berge, age 96 of Bottineau, passed away on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 at a Bottineau hospital.

"I am so blessed." Throughout Arlene Berge's life, that was one of her most frequent expressions. This year, she added "Well, you know, I am 96." And it's true: Over 96 years, Arlene, our mother, experienced innumerable blessings.

Born a twin to deaf parents and raised with an older brother near Baker, Minnesota, Arlene Butenhoff was a child of the Great Depression. As part of the local Deaf community, the family's first language was sign language; at times throughout life, until her last days, Mom would unconsciously speak through sign.

As WWII was raging, Mom graduated from Barnesville (Minnesota) High School and enrolled at Fargo Business College. At the war's conclusion, she took her first job at Allis-Chalmers in Fargo. One winter night, she and her roommate went to a dance, where a young veteran, Art Berge from Souris, North Dakota, spotted her and unforgettably said, "See that redhead? She's the one for me."

After marrying Art in 1947, this German woman left the potato fields of Minnesota for the wheat fields of North Dakota to join the large, close-knit, lefse-making Berge family. There, she dove into the roles of farm wife and homemaker, learning to milk cows, butcher chickens, put up her abundant garden produce—and make that lefse.

Her life became fuller with the birth of each of their five children. The years were rich with meals around a crowded table; summer raspberry picking in their huge patch; Christmas Eve candlelit dinners followed by Dad reading the Christmas story; even gatherings around the black-and-white TV to watch Sunday-night Bonanza and world-changing news reports from Walter Cronkite. Mom sewed clothes on a Singer treadle machine; taught Sunday school at our home church of Turtle Mountain Lutheran; baked buns and butterhorns; took hot meals to the fields during harvest; and kept their large farmyard looking like a park with neatly mowed grass and profusely blooming flower beds.

As we kids started leaving, Mom had a chance to use her fine penmanship to share news from home through frequent long letters. Mom and Dad happily packed the pickup time and time again to move one of us to a new school, job, or home. She relished any opportunity to travel, whether visits to family or flying off on an adventure with her daughters.

It came time to transition from farm life to town life and then, too soon, to life without her beloved Art. A woman of great faith and service, Mom dedicated time to volunteering at her new church, First Lutheran in Bottineau, North Dakota; delivering coffee and bulletins to local hospital residents; and washing, mending, and ironing clothing-center donations so they appeared new.

As they do, the years took their toll, and Mom eventually transitioned to life in long-term care at SMP Health – St. Andrew's in Bottineau. She embraced her new life there and developed enriching relationships within that community. She became an avid bingo player and looked forward to group FaceTime chats with all of us kids. On her last active day, Mom joined in hospital Halloween festivities, greeting trick-or-treaters with candy.

Our mom was kindhearted, generous, selfless, supportive, and—most of all—beloved. She treasured all her love-filled relationships made along the way.

We, Arlene's family, are so very grateful to God for letting us have this amazing woman to know, to learn from, and to relish life with. Thank you all for loving and caring for our mother. We celebrate a life well lived.

Allan, Glenn, Kathleen, David, Carolyn, and our families

Her funeral service will be held at First Lutheran Church, Bottineau, N.D., on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at the church and 2 p.m. burial at Turtle Mountain Lutheran Church, rural Souris, N.D. Arlene requested that any memorials be given to the Turtle Mountain Cemetery Association or SMP Health – St. Andrew's.