Preface to Third – 2002- Edition

The first edition of Grandma June's story was prepared in 1998. (13 pages of text and 2 pages of photos.) The second edition (Millennium Edition) was prepared in 2000. (17 pages of text, 3 pages of photos and a pedigree chart.) Prior to the second edition I made some corrections where needed and expanded a number of the sections. A page of photographs was added to cover Grandma June's roots, ancestors and Norwegian heritage. For the genealogically minded, I included an updated chart of Grandma June's pedigree. This last and final edition is for Grandma June's 75th birthday. In this edition I have added a page of pictures of all of Grandma June's children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. You will find that some of the text sections have been expanded and reorganized. I have added a new section on some of Grandma June's rather colorful favorite expressions. There is also a new section on selected early day friends, neighbors, relatives and schoolmates who impacted Grandma's life and are still cherished by her today. In some cases they may live on only in her memory. These are people who probably were in some way factors that may have influenced the shaping and forming Grandma's character. I hope that you will find this latest and final edition (30 pages of text.) to be an improvement over the prior editions and a worthy effort to honor Grandma.

Preface to Fourth - Online Edition 2008-

The fourth online edition was introduced when June's website was designed and created in June of 2008. The online edition makes for far greater flexibility on the addition of photographs and illustrations as well as additional text. The online edition will be a continuous effort during my lifetime...

Introduction

This story in honor of Grandma June Berg's 75th birthday (November 8th, 2002) is intended primarily for her grandchildren. The guy that was privileged to hang around for most of her life is the narrator of this nostalgic and unabashedly sentimental journey backward in time. I have always regretted not knowing more about my own maternal grandmother. I knew that she was a kind, caring, and hardworking lady who raised a large family. I knew that she was born in Sweden. Beyond that, I know very little about her life. I think it is unfortunate that one can live a lifetime and have grandchildren that know very little about the details of ones life. I know that most of you have or have had a very active relationship with Grandma June. However, I am sure that you know very little about Grandma's roots, the years and times of her growing to adulthood or her life's activities and travels. It is my hope that this story of Grandma June will help to supply such information. It is also possible that some of you may want to construct a family tree or family history at some time. This story could then become a source of information for you. Because this is the story of Grandma June, I am relating the story as an observer rather than as a participant. Because I lack any special talents as a storyteller, I would hope that you would overlook what might appear to be a fumbling or awkward approach to telling Grandma's story. This obviously is an “unauthorized” biography. While Grandma June is pleased about a story of her life, she tends to be a little embarrassed by the idea.

Grandma June comes close to what is meant by the descriptive term of a person who has “been there and done that”. After 75 years she remains a very modest, sensitive, caring lady and one who is well traveled.

Reader's Note: The following  appeared in “First Notice to Relatives and Friends of June’s Alzheimer’s Diagnosis – May 2001” “Many of you have seen the little book that I prepared about June for her grandchildren. The real reason I wrote the book is related to June’s Alzheimer’s disease. I had various motives in mind when I prepared the first edition for her birthday back in 1998. (1.)  One motive was to provide (at least temporarily) a means for June to again remember, review or relive some of her personal books of memory that had been stolen from her mind’s library by this cruel disease.(2.)  One more selfish motive is that this results in some form of therapy for me. (3.) The most important motive however, was to provide a means for her grandchildren to see what kind of a person their grandmother really was before this relentless disease attacked her."

This story cover's June K. (Rolstad) Berg's life from the time of her birth on Tuesday Novemeber 8th, 1927 until the years circa 2000 as she entered the early stages of Alzheimer's.

For a summary of June's almost 11 year battle with Alzheimer's in the years 1998-2008, see the article on this web site with the title "June K. Berg's Journey into Alzheimer's" on the top navigation strip under the label "June and Alzheimer's." For your convenience click this link:  (June's Journey into Alzheimer's)        Stan Berg

Photo Gallery

Click on link to view photos in a separate window

Grandma's Pedigree

Grandma June's Roots

The Early Years (1946 - 1979)

The Later Years (1980-1998)

June's Children, Grandchildren and Great-grandchildern