PETER BERGEN

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PETER BERGEN April 14, 1915 - April 29, 2016 Peter was born April 14, 1915, in St. Joseph, MB, the third eldest of nine daughters and six sons. In 1934, Peter was baptized upon the confession of his faith in the Sommerfeld Church. Peter passed away peacefully in his sleep at the Victoria General Hospital on Friday, April 29, 2016 at the age of 101 years and 15 days. He was predeceased by his parents Cornelius and Katharina (Hildebrand) Bergen; two brothers, Karl and Henry; seven sisters: Mary, Catherine, Sara, Susan, Elizabeth, Anne and Hildegard; four brothers-in-law: John Schroeder, John Wiens, Swen Frolander and Abraham Giesbrecht; two sisters-in-law: Mary (Dueck) Bergen and Elma (Klassen) Bergen. Left to mourn his passing are three brothers: Cornelius, Wilhelm and Elvin; two sisters: Helen and Gertrude; two sisters-in-law: Tina (Schroeder) Bergen and Mary (Wiebe) Bergen; and many nieces and nephews and their families. Peter grew up in the St. Joseph - Langevin district west of Letellier, MB. He spent his early school years in the Blumenthal private school, a bilingual English/German school. In later years, the family moved to the East side of the Red River with a few relocations in the next few years, finally settling on a more permanent farm in Pansy, 15 miles south of Steinbach, MB. In 1942, Peter went to work as an attendant at the Mental Institute in Portage La Prairie. While there, he continued his education, studying in his free time and in 1946, he enrolled in a four year degree program at the University of Manitoba, graduating in May of 1951 with a Bachelor of Science and Agriculture. After graduating in the spring of 1951, he first worked in North Dakota for seven years as a Veterans Instructor in Farm management and three years as an Extension Agent in Cavalier, ND, and at the North Dakota Agriculture College in Fargo, ND. While in the US, he pursued some post graduate work in Plant Sciences at the North Dakota Agriculture College and also at the University of Minnesota in Community Leadership and Adult Education. After coming back to Manitoba in 1958, he worked for 20 years as an Agronomist at Co-op Vegetable Oils Ltd., later known as CSP Foods. He retired in the spring of 1980 and enjoyed a fair bit of travelling, pleasure and business. In 1984, he went on a CIDA oilseed project in India together with three or four other research people. Also, in his retirement he went on a fact finding tour to Russia along with several other people connected to CSP Foods. A few other highlights in his retirement were, donating land the family had owned and he still owned about six miles south of Pansy, MB, was the establishment of the Rat River Marsh Restoration Project in 1994 with the late Albert Driedger, a former MLA from Grunthal, MB, as the leading promoter of the project. Peter bought his first computer in 1987 and started on his first book in 1988, a genealogy of his paternal grandparents, Peter and Maria (Hiebert) Bergen, published in December of 1988. His second writing project was a History of Sommerfeld Village, published in 1994, and a History of the Sommerfeld Mennonite Church published in 2001. For the past five years, he enjoyed making new friends at the Terrace - an assisted living facility in South Winnipeg. The funeral service will be held on Friday, May 6, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. at Bethel Mennonite Church, 465 Stafford Street, Winnipeg, MB, with a viewing prior to the service. The burial will follow at Mennonite Memorial Gardens, Winnipeg, MB. If friends so desire, donations in memory of Peter may be made to a charity of one's choice. Arrangements by BIRCHWOOD FUNERAL CHAPEL 1-204-346-1030 OR 1-888-454-1030

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on May 05, 2016