Alice B. Camacho

Mom was born Alice Helen Berg on April 8, 1941 to George Harris Berg and Clara McElhinney Berg. Mom was born with a cleft palate and had to endure several surgeries at a very young age. She would experience many painful episodes throughout her life, including dying of COPD on December 10, 2015.

Mom’s childhood was ideal. She had four brothers, Chuck, Bob, Frank, and Jack. She also had three sisters, Patty, Dolly, and Shirley. The family lived in a house right across from the school they all attended in Oak Creek Colorado. Her father George Berg ran the town gas station, and her mother Clara McElhinney was a stay and home mother and homemaker. Mom always spoke so fondly of her family life growing up.

Mom experienced a lot of teasing growing up because of her cleft palate, but my dad hated the way she was treated and tried to make sure no one teased her. My brother Robert Joe Berg was born on May 31, 1964 in Eugene, Oregon. Alice Helen Berg and Romaldo Camacho married on October 11, 1969, and Theresa Pauline Camacho (me), was born nine months later on July 20, 1970 in Fort Hood, Texas. Dad left the army and my little sister, Andrea Renee Camacho Marshall was born on November 26, 1972. Mom and Dad also lost three boys to miscarriages, and I know that broke their hearts.

Mom and Dad raised us during the seventies and eighties in the same house in Aurora, Colorado. I have so many wonderful memories of Mom during those times. She was absolutely meant to be a mother. She rarely got mad, although her middle child was a sassy brat at times, she was so happy being a mother and wife. My happiest memories are when the family would go fishing in Oak Creek and Leadville. Mom sitting on a lawn chair with a fishing pole in her hand is how I remember her the happiest.

I had three kids, Justine Marie Camacho, July 4, 1993, Austin Connor McDaniel, June 3, 1999, and Logan Ray McDaniel, October 6, 2000. Mom was also the best grandma ever. My kiddos called her Nonnie, and my dad was Peepa. Helping raise her grandkids was another beautiful chapter in her life, and my children have wonderful memories of their Nonnie watching movies with them, reading to them, and playing with them.

Mom got sick in 2009 and slowed down a lot, but her mind was always 100% and although she was not as active, she was still the matriarch of our family and kept us all close. Mom loved the Colorado Rockies, chicken enchiladas from La Casa Del Rey, Sudoku, crossword & jigsaw puzzles, reading Native American books and old westerns, fishing, and most of all, she loved all of us.

Mom passed away at the Denver Hospice on December 10, 2015. She got to tell us all that she loved us and we got to tell her the same. I was holding her hand and telling her I loved her, and thank you for loving me no matter what, when she passed. Alice Helen Berg Camacho loved and was loved. We will miss her forever.