Romeo Delmaine Nelson Bergie passed away peacefully on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2004, at the Albert Lea Medical Center, With him were loving family members.

Romeo was born Aug. 13, 1915, in Forest City, Iowa, to Benonie and Wilma (Nelson) Bergie. He graduated from Forest City High School. He worked at several jobs before joining the Army with the 27th Fighter Bomber Group and served with the 56th Bomb Squad in World War II, taking him to North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France and Germany.

After the military, he became a pressman in Albert Lea and continued in this occupation until retirement.

Romeo married Marga Julianne Friederike Schenk on Oct. 29, 1948, in Albert Lea. Their twin daughters were born in 1950.

Books were Romeo’s friends, ranging from history to art to architecture to science to literature and more. He wrote poetry and played the violin in a band as a young man in Iowa. In his middle age, he painted in oil, and later in life he preferred to paint in soft pastels.

Romeo displayed his art in shows and festivals in Albert Lea.. He also enjoyed doing photography and trips to Europe and was a great nature lover. He was a member of the American Legion and the Albert Lea Art Center.

He is survived by his wife, Marga; daughters: Astrid of Minneapolis, and Sigrid and her husband John A. Feliciano of Los Angeles, Calif.; brother-in-law, Dr. Paul-Werner Schenk and his family of Bad-Kreuznach, Germany; sister-in-law, Marie Bergie of Albert Lea, and her son Bradley and his wife Marcy and their children, Josh and Sonja, of Lake Elmo, Minn.; and his sister Virginia’s children: Brett Wamsley, Marcia and Gerald Cefalo, and Marilyn and Frank Bebmeyer of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Romeo was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers: Bidney and Murdoc; his sisters: Gloria and Virginia and her husband Richard Wamsley of Cincinnati, Ohio; nephew, Barry Bergie of Albert Lea; and niece, Becky Powers of Glasgow, Ky.

Romeo never read obituaries. We wonder if he will read this one. We wrote it with love. We will miss you so much. Auf Wierdersehen!

My Father’s Paintings

By Sigrid Bergie

His hands are kneading

castles, trees, and hills

into stillness.

His breath is moving

a spectrum of colors

through a delicate haze of air.

His fingers are sprinkling

lines and marks

like a web of hair.

His eyes are splintering

sunlight into snapshots.

His soul is dreaming

in the fair, porous skin

of canvass.