Obituary: Mal Berg Oveson

Mal Berg Oveson 1903 ~ 2005 Our dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Mal Berg Oveson, passed away peacefully at 3 p.m. on Monday, March 21, at the age of 101 years. She was born on December 26, 1903, in Castle Dale, Utah, the fifth of seven children born to Carl Rasmus and Martha Amalia Ungerman Berg. Our mother grew up in Castle Dale surrounded by family and friends and experienced all the joys and trials of a childhood in a small Utah farming community. She graduated from the Emery Stake Academy, worked for a year in Salt Lake City for the telephone company in what she described as a "learning experience," and then attended Brigham Young University where she obtained her teaching certificate. She taught elementary school in Emery County for three years and then married our father, Merrill M. Oveson, on September 7, 1927. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple and left the next day by train for Oregon where Dad entered graduate school at Oregon State College. They resided in Oregon for the next 39 years and raised their four children there. Mother was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served as president of the Primary and the Relief Society in Pendleton, Oregon, and as stake Relief Society president in the Union Stake for five years. After Dad's retirement, they served a mission together in the Southern States, and she then accompanied Dad to Jordan and Turkey where he directed wheat research projects. Dad passed away in 1981, leaving Mother a widow for the next 24 years. Mother is survived by four children, Richard M. (Alix) Oveson, Martha Joan Heath (Dan) Talbot, Stephen B. (Dixie) Oveson, and Mary Louise (Ted) Stoddard, 16 grandchildren, 56 great-grandchildren, and her sister, Uwin VanBuren. She leaves behind a legacy of service to her family, her community, and the Church of Jesus Christ. She was preceded in death by her husband, Merrill; a son-in-law, Lawrence T. Heath; a grandson, Jason Berg Oveson; her brother, Arnold Berg; and her sisters, Atlanta Zwahlen, Vera Duzett, Leona Campbell, and Cora Berg. A viewing will be held at the Berg Mortuary, 185 East Center, Provo, on Sunday, March 27, from 6 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be Monday, March 28, at 11 a.m. in the chapel at 4000 North Foothill Drive (1000 East) in Provo, with a viewing at 10 a.m. at the chapel. Interment will be in the Castle Dale City Cemetery.