Barbara Lewis Brekstad Berglee gently and peacefully passed on to be with her Lord on January 16, 2015 at Rocky Mountain Care Center, at 93 years of age. Barbara was born June 27, 1921 in Corvallis, Oregon, to Jesse Thayer and Wade V. Lewis, Sr.
Her father was a geologist, her mother raised 8 children. Barbara being the eldest, assisted in this. She grew up in Oregon and Montana, and graduated high school.
Barbara married Arnold P. Brekstad in Boulder, MT in 1941. They lived in California and Barbara worked as a riveter during WWII. Arnold served in the Navy, stationed in Okinawa in charge of ship repair. They were married 51 years and raised 4 children. They lived in California, Oregon, Washington, and moved back to Montana in 1970. They enjoyed trips to Norway visiting Arnold’s relatives. Barbara learned some Norwegian and had fun there. Arnold went to meet his Lord in 1993.
Barbara married Clifford M. Berglee (another Norwegian), of Wolf Point, in Boulder, MT of 1999. They enjoyed traveling Montana and adjacent states, he played guitar and harmonica and they both enjoyed singing and spreading the Word of God through gospel tracts and Gideon Bible Distribution. They traveled back and forth from Boulder to Wolf Point and then settled in Wolf Point as they got older. Clifford passed on in 2011.
Barbara was a full time mother and worked outside the home, cleaning houses. She enjoyed traveling and camping. She attended various churches and enjoyed a variety of worship of her Savior Jesus Christ.
Barbara enjoyed reading, she retained that ability a very long time, music, photography, gardening, and family. She enjoyed the outdoors and appreciated God’s creation of nature and animals, and praying and worshiping God.
Barbara had a good, long life and had “High Adventures” and exploits. Unfortunately, Barbara’s mind couldn’t keep up with her many adventures and her health declined over the last years; but she dealt with it gracefully and is now free of that limitation. Curiosity and a positive attitude persisted through her nursing home stays.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brother and sisters, son Peter, and husbands Arnold and Clifford.
Barbara is survived by a brother John of Oklahoma; sisters Kathleen and Sue of Helena, and Mary of Oregon; 4 children, 5 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.
Special thanks to Faith Lutheran Home in Wolf Point and Rocky Mountain Care Center caregivers for their loving care of Barbara in her last years.
Memorial service will be held 10:30am, Saturday, January 24, at Rocky Mountain Care Center. Faith Baptist Church will be conducting the service to celebrate Barbara’s life. Big Sky Cremations & Twitchell Funeral Service assisted the family with arrangements. To offer condolences or share a story about Barbara’s life please visit www.helenafunerals.com.
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Big Sky Cremation & Twitchell Funeral Se rvice says
1 file added to the album Memories Album
Cathy Clear says
Lit a candle in memory of Barbara Berglee
Cathy Clear says
Ginger I am so sorry for the loss of your Grandmother, I hope you find peace in knowing that she is now amount the angels is out of pain. Hugs my friend. Cathy Clear
Wanda Parker Tonnesen says
Aunt Barbara was very dear to me. We often don’t realized how much our loved ones mean to us until they are gone. She has left us, but she is with Him who never leaves or forsakes his own loved ones.
I was about 13 years old when I was riding my bicycle down the street after a rain. My bicycle slipped and I fell directly in front of their house, deeply cutting my knee on the jagged-edged peddle. Both Uncle Arnold and Aunt Barbara ran to my assistance. They took me to Doc. Pallister (the only doctor in town — kinda mean and unsympathetic, too!) They sat one on each side, comforting me, while the Doc impatiently told me to stop shaking so he could stitch me up.
She introduced me to avocados drizzled with honey on a trip to Billings for the weekend when I was 14. I still eat them that way today. Aunt Barbara, I think, was a health food nut. All her cookies were made of whole wheat flour and honey. She even made her own bread from scratch. I always enjoyed her treats.
Since they lived just across the field from us, I would go visit her and grandmother Lewis, and have afternoon tea (either homegrown alfalfa, comfrey, or peppermint — which I helped harvest every year) and crackers with them.
She and Uncle Arnold came to visit me in Seattle, Washington during my early Navy years (in 1983), to take me to a church they were visiting and to eat and visit with them. I always found peace and comfort in their company. Although I didn’t know the Lord at that time, I admired their devotion to their church and to God. And, I think it was because of her prayers for me that I eventually came to trust Christ as my Savior.
Because she trusted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, she is now forever with Him.
“See over there, there’s a mansion, oh, that’s prepared just for me,
Where I will live with my Savior eternally.
No more night. No more pain.
No more tears. Never crying again.
And praises to the great “I AM”.
We will live in the light of the risen Lamb.”
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple”. (Psalm 27:4)
“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved [Jesus Christ].” (Acts 4:12)
In the Lord’s timing, I will see you again one day.
Love, your niece,
Wanda Parker Tonnesen
Dale City, VA
Wanda Parker Tonnesen says
Sent a gift in memory of Barbara Berglee
Wanda Parker Tonnesen says
The Bible was what she lived by this side of heaven…now she has her Blessed Savior.
Wanda Parker Tonnesen says
4 files added to the album Memories Album
Terri Lewis says
Barbara lived her life apart from the agenda of the world at large. Her unique view of the world and her perspective on life became part of my foundation as a young teen. I often failed to share her views, and indeed struggled against them, but she challenged me to refine and define the terms and conditions of my own style of life. For that I am grateful. She and her siblings, including my father Wade, generated many talented folks who share a motherlode of history, talents, and experiences. For that she can be very proud. Sylvia, Kathleen, John, and Lorna she and Arnold gave you the best she had to offer. Peace in your homes.