Marvin Oberg

Oberg, Marvin
Nov 28, 1909 - Jan 12, 2011
Age 101. Died after a brief illness. He was born in Valley, NE. Three months later his father died and Marvin, his 6 sisters and mother moved to Fremont. He met his wife of 69 years, Louisa, at Midland College. He played football while earning an Engineering Degree at Iowa State University and went on to a long career with Northwestern Bell. He started work in Blair, Feb. 22, 1929, stringing telephone lines across the state, but rose to the executive ranks of the company, holding positions across the Midwest. He retired at age 65 as Vice President of Operations. Despite a love of golf, he didn't stay retired long. He went right back to work as President of American Bell, providing consulting services to the Puerto Rican Telephone Authority. After that 7 year assignment in San Juan, Marvin and Louisa traveled the world. He consulted in the phone business while Louisa soaked in as much as she could for as long as they stayed. Marvin was a success in the boardroom, but most proud of his work in the family room, raising the family's only child, Tim. They likely logged thousands of miles in the family car on Boy Scout trips and recently wore out decks of cards playing "one more hand" of Gin Rummy. When Tim was too old for play, Marvin engineered the best cabins Lincoln Logs could build and the most elaborate windmills Tinker Toys would tolerate for his 2 grandsons, Ted and Matt. Among their fond memories of their Grandpa is Marvin lying on the floor of the den struggling to get his huge hands around the smallest pieces to build to the most intricately engineered Tinker Toy towers in North America. In his later years, Marvin and his wife lived at Immanuel Village where he celebrated his 100th birthday in 2009 surrounded by four generations of family, including his 3 great granddaughters. Marvin's wife Louisa died June 6, 2009. He missed her terribly. His family is thankful for Marvin's long life and will always remember the way his wink could say I love you and how long one of his brief hugs could linger in their memory.
Marvin was buried in a private ceremony at Ridge Cemetery in Fremont.