Howard Gordon Berge, 90
Howard Gordon Berge, 90, died peacefully at Bonner General Health in Sandpoint, Idaho, on July 23, 2016. He was being visited by his grandson who was at the hospital to share a quiet moment in the early morning.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday July 28, 2016, at Coffelt Funeral Service in Sandpoint.
Howard was born on Feb. 6, 1926, in Minneapolis, Minn., to John Gardie Berge and Lauretta Elsie Wright. Howard was the fourth of eight children, six of whom have already past to the other side.
Howard was a veteran of World War II joining the Marine Corps at the age of 17. He served in Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa. Returning from the Pacific Theater, he married Margaret Carol Gordon with whom he had three daughters, Mary Frances Johnson and husband Bruce, Inga Karen Wilkinson and husband Paul, and Patricia Emily Neidigh and husband William, who is deceased.
The couple later divorced and, after some years, he married Nettie Lois Rice Berge with whom he had a stepson, Denver Woolever, and two sons, James William Berge, and Michael Richard Berge and wife Joy Kathleen Pemberton Berge.
Howard spend 31 years working as a machinist for the Boeing Company. He like to say that he was never laid off, they might have him sweeping floors, but they never laid him off.
The great love of Howard’s life was horses. He grew up on a farm that only had horses to do the work. He learned young how to work and handle horses. He had a spirit about him that horses seemed to connect with and he could get them to do almost anything he wanted them to do.
Howard moved to Sandpoint in 1990 from western Washington and the next summer started to give free wagon rides at the county fair and continued for the next 20 years. He had done the same thing at the Mason County Fair in Shelton, Wash., for many years. In 1989 Howard took his team on the Washington State Centennial ride from Idaho to the Pacific Ocean. Howard also loved to take his teams on the 245-mile trip across Washington on the John Wayne Memorial Trail Ride. Some people thought that his fjord/cross horses wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace, but he soon proved them wrong and others had a hard time keeping up with his team. He made the trip about 25 times and 15 of those times he was the wagon master.
He is survived by three daughters and three sons, 16 grandchildren, and many great-grandchildren, and a sister, Elizabeth Carol McMinn of Akerman, Miss. He is also survived by two favorite horses, Red and Marie. He will be missed by all who knew him.
Family and friends are invited to sign Howard’s online guest book at www.coffeltfuneral.com.
Arrangements are entrusted to the care of Coffelt Funeral Service of Sandpoint.