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GERALDINE GARRETT BERGER Formerly of BRAZIL, IN
DIED September 27, 2022
BORN April 8, 1916
Geraldine Garrett Berger was born in Fargo, N.D. in 1916 and raised on a farm near Argenta, Illinois.
After high school, she worked as a nanny & maid in Decatur and Chicago, IL before starting employment with The Fair Store as a sales clerk in the art needlework department where she learned to knit her own clothes. During WWII she was employed in the Personnel Department at United Airlines. In December 1942 she married Herman Berger. Following his service in WWII, they returned to his hometown of Lafayette, IN to help with the family furniture store and raise their daughter, Autumn.
They moved to Brazil, Indiana for her husband’s employment at Twigg industries. Mrs. Berger was a Welcome Wagon Hostess, a teacher’s aide at Brazil High School, and the high school principal’s secretary before “retiring” to do bookkeeping for her husband’s business.
She was active in local women’s clubs and enjoyed collecting antiques, playing bridge, sewing, and knitting. She assisted in fundraising for the new community swimming pool and gave many volunteer hours to the First Presbyterian Church of Brazil. She served as one of the first woman Elders and Trustees in the Brazil congregation as well as President of the Presbyterian Women. She served the wider denomination as President of the Ohio Valley Presbyterial (southern Indiana district of Presbyterian Women) and as Treasurer of the Synodical of Lincoln Trails (Indiana & Illinois region of Presbyterian Women) as well as serving on committees at those levels.
When she moved to Maryville, TN with her daughter and son-in-law Professor Mark Hall, in 2001 she was invited into the Chilhowee Club and was an active member of the Deborah Circle at New Providence Presbyterian Church. She was known for wearing hats and dressing as a regal lady. For her 100th birthday, she hosted a hat tea party for her neighbors. They were invited to wear one of the 50 hats remaining in her collection. She drove until she was 95 and continued to live in her own home until age 106. She was a gracious hostess on her patio in Berwyn Fields. Friends and neighbors all agree that Jerry Berger was the epitome of the saying: “I make old age look good.” The week before her passing she watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, one of a few people to have seen the Queen’s coronation as well as her royal funeral.
She is survived by her daughter Autumn Hall and son-in-law Mark A. Hall of Maryville, TN.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 15 at 1 p.m. at New Providence Presbyterian Church, Maryville, Tennessee. Arrangements by Cremation Options of Knoxville.