Laurie Bergen

Laurence Kurt Bergen was born in the Kerrobert hospital on July 6, 1946, to Jake and Helen Bergen of Luseland, SK. When Laurie was born, he joined his sister Irene, who had arrived in 1945. Another sister, Maryann was born in 1949, and tragically died in infancy. In 1951, Joanne joined the family and in 1953, Daniel was born to complete the family. After finishing his education, Laurie had several jobs, but his main work and love was farming – growing grain and raising cattle; his greatest joy was raising his children on the farm with the love of his life, Shelby, whom he married in 1968.

Laurie’s last crop was in 2002, and at that time his nephew Jeremy Pangman bought the house and farm, and Laurie and Shelby moved to Luseland. However, because you can’t keep a farmer away from the farm, Laurie’s “retirement” was soon populated by a growing number of farming jobs and contributions. Those years were so special. Especially the last ten years of his semi-retirement, which were spent working with Dan and Stacey on Holman Farms, a job and time of his life he loved dearly. He relished learning new farming methods and was grateful he didn’t have to worry about the bills and problems of a “real” farmer.

Those winters (17 in all) were spent in Indio, California with Shelby and in 2018 when he really did retire, they moved to Saskatoon. It was the right move, and they quickly found a wonderful support community both in the condo they moved into and as new members of the congregation at Nutana Park Mennonite Church.

In the fall of 2019, Laurie was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and was very grateful he was in the city. He was also later diagnosed with spinal stenosis, and recently, Parkinson’s.

Not enough can be said about the wonderful care he received from our family doctor, Dr. Baptiste, and his oncologist, Dr. Bosch, at the Cancer Centre. Dr. Bosch and a huge team were so caring, efficient, and professional. The whole medical system in Saskatchewan worked so hard to keep Laurie comfortable and upbeat.

In the last months, Laurie’s quality of life had become untenable, and he was so grateful to have MAID as an option, because it gave him the opportunity to leave nothing unsaid with those closest to him.

Laurie is survived by his adoring wife Shelby; children Tamara (Shane), Sean (Jamie-Lyn), and Dean (Lisa-former daughter-in-law); and grandchildren Skyler, Cassandra, Adam, Ainsley, and Jacob. Laurie was predeceased by his parents Jake and Helen; sisters Maryann (in infancy) and JoAnne.

For those that are unable to attend, you may watch the livestream at:

https://www.youtube.com/live/YbOBf6jHtbU?si=dvFaTQ_3dQlI4xxH