Lisa Arlene Sarvestaney

The visitation begins at noon, with a service to follow at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, in the Runge Mortuary Chapel. Memorials may be made to the family. Online condolences may be expressed at www.rungemortuary.com.

Lisa was born on March 17, 1969 in Columbus, OH to Donald and Maxine (Cook) Berger. She earned two master's degrees in Chemistry and Education from the University of Iowa and Marycrest Teacher’s College. Lisa worked for over 20 years as a high school Chemistry and Physics teacher at Davenport North High School. The connections she made with her students were far more important to her than any of Murphy’s Laws.

Lisa enjoyed being with her family. She would often host dinners, bonfires, and cookouts to spend quality time with her loved ones. Each summer, she would take her family to her parents’ house in Valley City, OH for an annual 4th of July family reunion. She was known as the family peacekeeper, and the “Vice Mommy”. Lisa enjoyed going for bike rides and enjoying nature with her friends, a group she later deemed her “Biker Chicks”. She enjoyed going to Pizza Friday’s with her other group of friends, and frequently attended Circa 21 shows. She enjoyed taking care of her dogs Chevy, Jolene, and Milo. She would often take them for walks, play frisbee in her backyard, and take them out on adventures. More than anything, Lisa enjoyed time with her grandchildren Taedyn, Westley, and Myles. She loved playing with them, napping with them, and encouraging them to try new foods.

Lisa had a passion for music. She enjoyed singing Bluegrass, The Eagles, CCR, Hank WIlliams, Johnny Cash, as well as anything that happened to come on the radio. In High School, she was a part of the marching band and symphony orchestra. In adulthood, she often played her flute in trios with her children at St. John’s United Methodist Church. She also was a part of a Ukulele Club, and learned to play the Mandolin. Music had a way of making her heart feel light, and helped her stress to melt away. Lisa loved to craft, and spent many afternoons knitting, crocheting, and sewing. It was common for her to see a handcrafted good and announce to anyone that she was with “Don’t waste your money! I can make that for you!” Lisa was often a point of contact for anyone who needed help nursing a plant back to health. Each summer, many people bore the responsibility of accepting her vegetables that she “could never finish herself”.

As a child, Lisa was very ambitious. She was the Honored Queen of the Ashland Bethel of Job’s Daughters, a sister organization to the Masons. She was a member of the National Honors Society. As a junior in high school, she was elected to be the Buckeye State Representative for Ashland High School, her alma mater. She was academically driven and chose to graduate early, at the end of her junior year. During what would have been her senior year, she chose to begin college instead. As the school year came to a close, the administration at her former high school invited her to come back to Ashland for her graduation. Although she had already graduated, Lisa had the honor of walking across the stage with her classmates and friends.

Lisa had the heart of a lion. Throughout her life, she was courageous in the face of many hardships. She never lost faith, never set her morals to the side, and always did what was right for her family. She was a huge believer in mind over matter. She had many motivational phrases that she would say to herself as mantras, and would write them as little notes in her journals, work documents, and later her medical documentation. She used the positivity in her spirit and mind to keep fighting throughout all of the battles she fought in life. Her resilience is something that her children admired about her greatly. She always had a humble response when she was complimented about her resilience, such as “What else am I supposed to do? I have to keep going!”

Lisa was a genuine, good natured person. She loved to help and support anyone she came to know. When asked about “her kids”, it was not uncommon for her to begin boasting about her students as if they were her own. The love she had for her students went both ways. It was nearly impossible for her to go anywhere in the Quad Cities without being recognized. She was always excited and proud to see who “her kids” had grown to become. She viewed many of her colleagues as family, naming herself the “Work Mom” of her science team, and treated them with the same respect and loving nature that she did her own blood.

Those left to cherish Lisa’s memory are her two children, Aryana (Ben) Miller, and Sam (Taelor); her three grandsons Taedyn and Westley (Sam), and Myles (Aryana); her parents, Donald and Maxine Berger; her siblings, Jessica (Geoff) Morman, Donald (Brenda) Berger Jr., Michelle Chinchilla; and her nieces and nephews, Matthew Berger, Kevin Morman (Inna), Joshua Berger, Mason Chinchilla, JennaMarie Peters (Brandon), Alexis Peck (Alex), Arin Chinchilla (Kyli), Michael Berger (Jillian), Aimar Chinchilla, and Carew Chinchilla, along with countless friends, colleagues, and former students.