Doris Frances Berget

Doris F. Berget was born on January 9, 1929 to David and Alice Taylor in Minot, North Dakota. Her sister Joyce followed seven years later. Doris loved telling stories about growing up in Minot and South Prairie where her grandparents lived, visiting with her many aunts and uncles, and playing with her cousins.

Her love of music began at a young age playing violin in the Minot Baby Symphony and French horn in the marching band throughout high school and college. She had a lot of fun stories to tell about going to Chicago and Saskatoon on band tours!

Faith was an important part of Doris' life growing up, and she had fond memories of participating in Luther League at First Lutheran Church where she made wonderful lifelong friends.

After graduating from high school in 1947, Doris attended Minot State University, majoring in music and elementary education. It was there that she met Leif O. Berget from Columbus, a small farming community in North Dakota. They married in 1951 and shortly thereafter packed their bags and ventured to New York City where Leif studied and obtained his master’s degree in education. In 1959 and with two children in tow, they were ready to return to the Midwest and settled in St. Paul.

During the early 1960s, Doris devoted her time to raising her two children, Marylee and Jonathan. She was also active in the choir at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Highland Park.

In the fall of 1963, the Bergets boarded the Oslo Fjord, a Norwegian ocean liner and sailed for nine days to Oslo, Norway. Once there, Leif taught school for a year on a Fulbright Grant. That year was filled with visiting Norwegian and Swedish relatives, seeing ancestry homes, and making lots of friends and memories.

In 1965, the Bergets built a house in the Park Hills subdivision in Woodbury and Doris went back to school to become recertified to teach elementary education. That same year, she was hired to teach in the South Washington County School District where she taught for 25 years. In 1967, she was one of a group of teachers that opened the brand new Royal Oaks Elementary in Woodbury, and even helped pick out paint and carpet to decorate the building! She and Leif also helped plant the trees and bushes around the school. She ended her teaching career at Pine Hill Elementary in Cottage Grove.

She was engaged in her passions throughout her retirement, performing with Lakeshore Players, Woodbury Community Theater, the Dale Warland Singers, the Festival Chorale, the church choirs at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Woodbury, and the Stonecrest senior choir.

Doris is survived by her daughter Marylee, son Jon, and his wife Jeanne. Grandchildren include Matt Lindeman, his wife Mandy, and their children Aidan and Layton; Beth Lindeman; Karl Berget, his wife Hannah, and their children Zoey and Grace; and Christina Solinger, her husband Bill, and their daughter Ava Jo. Additional survivors include nephew Randy Suhre of Indianapolis; special family friends Joni Leithe, Susan Leithe and Jean Anderson all of St. Paul; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins in North Dakota. Doris was preceded in death by her husband Leif in 2001, her sister Joyce, and her parents.

Grandma B. will always have a special place in our hearts and we will always remember her singing WooHoo as she entered the room!

A celebration of Doris’ life will be held at O’Halloran and Murphy, 8700 Valley Creek Rd, Woodbury, MN on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. There will be a “meet and greet” from 10 AM to 11 AM, with a service to follow at 11.

In lieu of flowers, memorials preferred to the choirs of King of Kings Lutheran Church or Open Door Community Theatre (Woodbury.)