2016

Here is a picture of some of the Berge siblings taken in Arizona in 2016.   From left to right are couples (with the man standing in the back, obviously): Wally & Candis.  Norman & Marion. Ken & Hope.  Judy & Jarle.  Ardy in the bright pink.  (We are missing brother Phil and his wife Betty Jo.)

The eight siblings and their families

Before I put more ancestor photos on the blog, I thought I'd try to be sure all eight children of Tobias and Anna are pictured here. The above picture was taken in Banff, Canada. The seven living children of Tobias and Anna gathered for a rich time of fellowship.

Back row: (l to r) Norman, Arthur, Philip, Walter and Kenneth

Front row: Judith and Alice

And now here below are pictures of the siblings with their spouses/families.

First born child: Irene Berge (her name was really Thelma Irene Berge) married Richard Rogers on September 29, 1973. Sadly, they only enjoyed three years of marriage before Irene passed away in December of 1976.


The second daughter of Tobias and Anna is Judy. She is married to Jarle Olson, and the mother of seven fine children - Nathanael, Patty, Cherie, Lisa, Steven, Valerie and Timothy.
(They have 18 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. )
(standing: left to right: Cherie, Valerie, Patty, Nathanael, Lisa, Steven, Tim)


The third daughter was Alice Marie Berge. She was a special sister to her siblings and a wonderful Aunt and Great-Aunt to everyone. She passed away in 2006 from multiple myeloma.


The first son born to Tobias and Anna is Norman. He surprised us all when he left his bachelor status and married dear Martha in 2001. It was a really GOOD surprise and we are so happy he took the leap!


The 5th child of Tobias and Anna is Art. He is married to Ardy and they have 3 daughters, Rhonda, Lisa and Dee-Dee. (and 6 grandchildren)
(backrow: left to right: Dee-Dee, Lisa and Rhonda)

Next born is Phil, who is married to Betty Jo. They have six children: Tammy, Heidi, Julie, Scott, Todd and Kristofor . (They have 18 grandchildren and one great-grandchild)
Tammy passed away in July 2006 from cancer.
(standing: left to right: Scott, Julie, Tammy, Heidi, Kris, Todd)

Second to last was Walter, married to me, Candis. We have 3 grown sons, John, Adam and Daniel and 8 grandchildren.
(behind us, left to right: John, Daniel, Adam)

The baby of the family is Kenneth. He is married to Hope and they have Kevin and Wayne. They also have 3 babies in heaven. They have 7 grandchildren.

(Standing, left to right: Wayne, Kevin)

There were, therefore, 24 grandchildren for Tobias and Anna, (including the 3 infants who died at birth to Ken & Hope.) 20 of them are presently living. And there are 57 great-grandchildren (so far..) of Tobias and Anna's and 2 great great grandchildren (so far....)

And not included in that number are all the spouses married into this family! I think the number of spouses in two generations is 27.

So: 8 + 24 + 57 + 2+ 27 = 118

Living: 112

(In Heaven: Irene, Alice, Tammy and Ken & Hope's babies: Kathi, Mark and Michael)

Berge cousins: Berge and Olson 1996

Above is a picture of all 21 grandchildren of Tobias and Anna Berge. This picture was the sole time that the 21 grandchildren assembled in one place. It was taken following the funeral for their beloved Grandmother, Anna Nodeland Berge. It was an honor to her that every single grandchild was able to be in attendance that day. Each one felt her love and benefitted from her prayers, I'm sure. If you cannot identify all of your cousins, you can scroll down further and see the picture with the names added. But first try to see if you can identify everyone!

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Okay, here's the one with the names. Did you get them all correct?

Now, can you names their spouses and children?

I didn't think so...

Nodeland cousins in 1993 : Hagen, Njaa, Nodeland & Berge

Here is a great photograph of all the Nodeland cousins that were in attendance at the Nodeland family reunion in 1993 in Hagen, Saskatchewan, Canada.

(Actually, the reunion was celebrated in the community center in Birch Hills, Saskatchewan.)

I believe the only cousins missing from this photograph would be Irene Berge (who died in 1976) and sisters Bernice and Judith Nodeland.

Most of these cousins were in the picture with Grandma Nodeland in the preceeding post on this blog. (a few were not born when that picture with Grandma Nodeland was taken..)

Ingeborg Olsdatter Fidje Nodeland

Ingeborg Nodeland was grandma Anna Berge's mother (Ingeborg was also mother to Alma, Martha, Ole and Olga)

She had a large number of grandchildren and this photograph is Ingeborg with many of her grandchildren. (Many more were born following this photograph.) I cannot identify everyone but I am sure of Irene on the far right. I believe Judy is standing to the right of her grandma Ingeborg and possibly Norman or Art is the child that Judy has her hand upon. I'm guessing that Alice is standing second from the right in the middle row.

Update: Judy Berge Olson said it is likely baby Phil on his grandma's lap.

This photograph appears to have been taken on the same day. Does anyone know what day that was? Was it a special birthday? Judy, do you remember?

I know Martha is in the back on the left, next is Anna. I am unsure about Alma and Olga - I will have to ask Wally to identify them for me.

As I recall, someone said that the baby in this photograph is Phil, in his great grandma Ingeborg's arms. I believe Art is the child on the left and likely Norman on the right.
I sure think that Art's grandsons Matthew and Mason (Lisa and Andre's boys) look just like Art. Does anyone else think so?


I wonder if this was baptism day for Phil?
Does anyone know?

Update: Judy Berge Olson said this is baby Irene Berge with her grandma.

Ingeborg Olsdatter Fidje Nodeland

She was born on December 14, 1856 in Greipstad, Norway and died on August 30, 1943 in Hagen, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was almost 87 years old.

She had 29 grandchildren - the first being born in 1913 (Irene Priscilla Hagen, daughter of Alma) and the last grandchild to be born was Kenneth George Berge in 1942. So she got to see all her grandchildren.

This is Ingeborg Nodeland at 80 years.

This picture is also in the "Nodeland family" booklet that Grandma Anna provided to the family back in the 70's. I think Wally did the typing and assembling of that booklet. It has a light green cover - like a school folder. We reprinted the text of it when we had our Berge family reunion in 2004 but did not reproduce the photographs again. I think each family should have a copy of what Grandma wrote and it is something I love to read and re-read. We should all write down things for our children and grandchildren. I haven't yet, have you?

Childhood on the farm

Isn't this picture great? Little boys and their animals - I love to hear their stories of life on the farm in Canada. From left to right: Wally, Ken and Phil.

Here again are the 3 little brothers: Phil, Ken and Wally (left to right)

This picture may have been taken in Norway as I also see it is in Irene's photo album (that I have) from their year in Norway. In that album she has labeled it "the big three." From left to right is Phil, Norman and Art. I guess Phil got to be the with "big three" and sometimes with the little guys, Wally and Ken.

(I will be scanning and posting some of the pictures from Irene's Norway album soon)

Another winter scene. Fun.

Winter on the farm in Hagen

A few years ago Nathanael and Steven scanned some old family photos to a CD. These winter scenes are from that CD of old photos - a treasure, to be sure. (Thank you Nathanael and Steven).

I hope you will enjoy seeing these winter scenes. You will have to ask someone like Judy, Norman, Art, Phil, Wally, or Ken to identify who is who in these pictures. I don't think I'll attempt to do it. Maybe they can tell you some stories at the same time!

This looks like the 5 Berge brothers at play.

The horses were named Birdie and Queen. We think this is Norman and Art on the wagon.