Wayne Carl Berg, Sr.

It has been recorded that some coastal Vikings buried their noble dead by floating them out to sea on a mated ship, waiting for the moment when the evening sun was at the water's edge then launching a fiery arrow onto the deck so that the boundary between water, sun and fire was erased, and the passage to Valhalla would be assured. Today we no longer practice the ancestral ways, but when we think about them we begin to understand that it was grief and love that led us to believe in such magic.

Wayne Carl Berg Sr. was born in Fargo, North Dakota on July 8, 1939 to parents Carl and Myrtle Berg, Norwegian and Swede respectively. He was raised in Minnesota among, they say, some 10,000 lakes that, in the imagination of the immigrant community, must have represented the North Sea of the old country.

Wayne often boasted of his first job as a baker, following in the footsteps of his father, an early augury to what would be his final career as proprietor and chef at Trapper's Food Emporium, the small green sandwich shop in Ronan, but that's getting ahead of the story. There's so much more that comes before the Big Sky country.

From Minnesota Wayne and his parents moved to the golden coast of California where he learned to surf in the mid 1950's and was beach bum enough to be cast as an extra in the film production of "How To Stuff A Wild Bikini".

After high school he entered the United States Army where he studied aerial photography. He served a tour in Korea after combat action had ended, but still had shrapnel scars years later to prove that for some it's never so easy to end a war. Wayne, admittedly, did not like being shot at, so when the opportunity presented itself for him to enter the Secret Service as a security guard for Dwight D. Eisenhower, he jumped at it. Six years in the White House allowed him to earn a degree in electrical engineering from the prestigious Georgetown University and travel extensively with the President of the United States.

"Eisenhower," Wayne said, "was a good man but a lackluster president."

Other historical figures he had the chance to meet, such as Nakita Khrushcev of the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro, were much more interesting. Wayne used to tell of a time he was chauffeuring the great communist leader, Khrushcev, on a visit to the States, when he asked him to drive to a place where he could give candy to poor children.

From Washington, D.C. back to California in the early 70's, Wayne took a job at Pacific Scientific where he designed hydrogen atmosphere furnaces for the space industry. However lucrative, the corporate lifestyle did not appeal to him so he opened a bar and feed store in Riverside, California while dabbling in the insurance business on the side. Here he married and started a family amidst the bustling landscape of California.

In 1975, wanting a slower paced life and missing the cold that is genetic to those of Norse descent, Wayne packed up his family and moved to Montana and the Mission Valley where he became a jack-of-all-trades: rancher, retailer, restaurateur and entrepreneur. He is best known for his two eateries, Buffalo Chip Pizza and recently Trapper's Food Emporium: The Little Place With The Big Taste. Trapper's, of course, was famous for its gyros and huge cheeseburgers, but mostly because the cook was known to take pride and care in his work. Though his accomplishments and experiences have been many, the theme of Wayne's life for the last 30-plus years was the care, protection, and adoration of his children. Every other pursuit paled in comparison,

By all accounts, Wayne was not a Viking king, nor will there be a burial at sea in the midst of the Rocky Mountains, but in the stories of those who cared for him there is no doubt he will become a legend.

Wayne Carl Berg Sr. passed away on February 17, 2006 at St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan. He is preceded in death by his parents and survived by his children Daniel Berg and his wife Bridget of Raleigh, North Carolina; Alaina Berg of Ronan; Wayne Berg, Jr. of Ronan; Angelika, Ryan and Mason Sloan of Missoula; Weston Berg of Ronan; and Alizabeth Berg of Ronan. Wayne is also remembered by his close friends Joe Kultgen, John Gehring, Raymond Peavler and far too many others to name.

Memorial services were held on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2006 at 3 p.m. in the Glacier View Elementary School, north of Ronan. Shrider's Mortuary of Ronan is assisting with arrangements.