Leonard George Berger

Leonard G. Berger, 81, of rural Waterville, KS, died Saturday, November 1, 2008, at Cambridge Place in Marysville. A funeral service was held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, November 5, 2008, at Afton Lutheran Church. Dr. Roger Baskerville and Lonnie Berger officiated. Diane Baskerville played the organ and Stephanie Berger was vocalist. The congregation sang "Jesus Savior Pilot Me". The casketbearers were Aaron Berger, Eric Berger, Austin Berger, Lane Berger, Levi Berger, Charlie Bush and Mark Fincham. The honorary casketbearer was SPC Rex Shoemaker. Burial was in the church cemetery. Leonard George Berger was born December 21, 1926 to George and Sarah (Lohse) Berger of rural Waterville, Kansas. Leonard, an only child, was born at home and lived and worked on the family farm his whole life. In 1950 he married Lorene Elaine Holle. They were married for 58 years. Seven children were born. First identical twins, Larry and Loren, then Lila, Linda, Lonnie, Luin and Lynette came to this union. Leonard often joked that they had to stop having children because they were running out of names that started with "L." Leonard's farm consisted of both livestock and grain. In 1969, a new breed of cattle called Simmental was added to the farm and Leonard became a seed stock and bull provider for many local farmers and sold cattle throughout Kansas. He won a number of awards for his Simmental cross cattle and had the top-gaining pen of bulls at the Beloit Bull Test station for a number of years. Leonard loved to meet new people and for many years his business of renting, selling and delivering bulls allowed him to become acquainted with farmers from all over Kansas. Leonard also enjoyed raising Rat Terrier dogs. He sold puppies that went to many families in the area. If you found Leonard feeding cattle in the wintertime he constantly had one or more of his companion dogs with him in the tractor cab. Leonard was a very active member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Afton where he was an elder for many years. In his later years, he especially enjoyed his 18 grandchildren and 9 great grand children, with more still to come. Each of Leonard's seven children married and are: Larry and Sue Berger of Champaign Illinois who have 3 children. Loren and Peggy Berger of Stapleton, Nebraska have two children and 5 grandchildren. Lila Bruna of Atchison, Kansas has three children and two grandchildren. Linda and Rick Rawson of Ithaca, New York have three children and two grandchildren. Their middle daughter Bethany is currently serving with the Peace Corp in Zambia, Africa. Lonnie and June Berger of Omaha, Nebraska have two children. Luin and Mary Jo Berger of Waterville have three children and farm the place where Leonard was born. Lynette and Frank Shoemaker of Marysville have two children. Their son Rex is currently serving in the Army in Afghanistan and their daughter Laura is to have the 10th great grand child this month. Preceding him in death were his parents, and an infant grandson, Lance Berger. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Leonard George Berger, please visit our flower store.