Lagretta Jean Berger passed away peacefully on Jan. 18, 2023, about five weeks before her 100th birthday.
died The beloved mother of three comfortably as Oklahoma City doctors prepared to perform surgery.
Jean laughed before they wheeled her away to surgery and told the nurse she felt so good she wondered if that broken hip had healed overnight.
Jean was born on February 21, 1923 in Dewey, OK to the late Perry Daniel and Myrtle Daisy (Witt) Brower. Jean attended Vida Way school and Yale High School.
She married the love of her life Dewitt Berger on June 4, 1941. The couple built a family together as they moved across the Western States. Dee retired from the oil industry in 1979 and the couple returned to Yale.
Jean enjoyed discussing politics, traveling, sewing, painting and attending First Baptist Church in Yale. Everyone recognized Jean as a kind beauty with a huge smile. Friends knew she would always be “dressed to the nines.”
Even as a patient, Jean believed in looking her best ... and speaking out. During one hospital visit, she demanded to know why she was wearing an ugly hospital gown.
“We use ugly gowns so they don't get stolen,” said the doctor.
“Well, I just might steal this one,” she said without missing a beat.
“That way, no one else will have to wear the ugly thing.”
She got a more presentable gown.
Jean was preceded in death by her husband Dee, grandson Troy Berger, second husband Bill Day, siblings Madeline Mitchell, Louis D.
Brower, Gerald Brower and Delorva Belveal.
Jean is survived by her children Keith Berger, Sonya Colberg and husband Terry, and Greg Berger and wife Marcy. Survivors include her grandson, Chris Colberg, granddaughter Cindy Berger and great-grandchildren Samantha and Azury. Her sister-in-law, Doris Brower, joins in remembering Jean, along with friends Ben Austin, Meilagros Jennings and Marilyn Jones.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, January 23, 2023 in the Chapel of Palmer Marler Funeral Home in Cushing. Pastor Michael Dershem will officiate. Burial will follow in the Lawson Cemetery, Yale, OK.
