GENEVA MAE BERGESON 

January 24, 1932 to September 21, 2020

Geneva Mae Wilke was born on January 24, 1932 in Troy, KS to Ada Savannah and William Henry Wilke.  She was the sixth of six children with her siblings Dick, Andrew, Mary, Darlene and Maxine.  Geneva grew up on the family farm in Troy, attended Troy High School and remained in Troy until 1960 when she and her sister Maxine moved to Portland, OR.  Upon arriving in Portland, Geneva found employment as a secretary for John Deere.  Geneva met her husband, John Bergeson, in 1966 and they were married in 1967.  The couple had three sons – Eric, Kyle and Garth and raised the boys in Northeast Portland in the Grant-Wilshire neighborhood.

Geneva was an avid gardener and she loved sports, especially football, basketball and baseball and she passed that love onto her sons.  She was a lifelong fan of Nebraska Cornhusker football and the Portland Trail Blazers.  Geneva also loved spending time at the Oregon Coast in Manzanita having built a home there with John in 1979.

Her father, William Henry Wilke, and her mother, Ada Savannah Wilke, preceded Geneva in death.  Her husband, John Bergeson, preceded Geneva in death.  Geneva is survived by her sons, Eric (Lisa)Bergeson, Kyle Bergeson and Garth (Jennifer)Bergeson, her grandchildren; Hannah Bergeson, Olivia Bergeson, Andrew Bergeson, Sophia Bergeson and Ava Bergeson, and her sister, Maxine Ada Hagenson.

A celebration of life was held graveside at Skyline Memorial Gardens on Saturday, October 24, 2020 at 1:00pm