John Berg

A celebration of life for John R. Berg, 61, of Kalona, will be held Wednesday, February 20, 2019, at 10:30 AM at the Peterseim Funeral Home in Kalona, with Deacon Derick Cranston officiating. Burial with full military honors will follow at Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery in Richmond. The family will greet friends from 4 – 7 PM at the funeral home on Tuesday, February 19. A memorial fund has been established for the Kalona Volunteer Fire Department and Kalona 1st Responders. John Robert Berg passed away Friday, February 15, 2019, at his home surrounded by loved ones following a courageous year-long battle with cancer.

John was born January 10, 1958, in Washington, Iowa, the son of Urban and Gertrude (Bentler) Berg. He was one of 8 children. Following school at Mid-Prairie, John entered the United States Navy and spent time aboard the USS San Jose. He met and married Karen Doyle, while stationed in Alameda, California. The couple moved to Claremore, Oklahoma after his discharge from the Navy, and later moved to Kalona. They had 3 daughters and later divorced. John loved his job as a custodian at the University of Iowa Boyd Law Building. In his free time, he loved car shows, mushroom hunting, fishing, hunting, trap shooting, gardening and playing Cribbage, along with watching his favorite TV shows, Animal Planet and the Military and History Channels, along with action movies. Most of all, he loved time spent with his children and grandchildren.

Survivors include his daughters: Bridgett Berg (Shannon Blake) of Kalona, Bernadette (Eric Pennington) Haman of Iowa City, Audrey (Jordan) Clark of Grinnell; 11 grandchildren: Paitynn Gingerich, Delaney Gingerich, Landon Simon, Braxton Blake, Lyla Blake, Johnathon Haman, Abigail Haman, Jennifer Haman, Christian Clark, Elijiah Clark and Kaetlyn Clark; brothers: Rick (Connie) Berg of Coralville, Randy (Sandy) Berg and Jim (Bev) Berg of Kalona; sisters:Becky (Fred) Reid of Cedar Rapids, Vicky Berg of North Liberty, Jacque (Steve) Wertz of Kalona as well as many nieces and nephews.

Preceding John in death were his parents, and one brother and sister-in-law Tom (Diane) Berg; and one great-nephew, Peyton Hayes.