Vivian E. Berg

Vivian E. Berg, J.D.

September 13, 2025

After an excellent life well lived, Vivian Elaine Berg died peacefully on September 13, 2025, at 88. Born in Frazer, MT, Vivian's mother, Christina Shieve, died when she was just three, which led her, and her five-year-old sister, Edna, to be raised by Emil and Ella Berg in North Dakota.

In 1960, Vivian earned a teaching degree from Minot State College in Minot, North Dakota, then began her teaching career in a one-room school house. With her first husband serving in the U.S. Air Force, she lived in Missouri, Florida, Illinois, and Wisconsin. After her first marriage ended, Vivian went to the University of North Dakota Law School at age 39 as a single mom. She spent much of her legal career as disciplinary council for the North Dakota Supreme Court. After retirement, she traveled the world-from China to Panama and across Europe-with her husband, former Mandan, North Dakota, dentist Richard Wirtz, whom she married in 1989. She then spent several years touring of a different sort with FEMA, responding to 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and many others disasters.

Having left her beloved Florida in 1965, she returned to the Sunshine State in 2013. As a life-long fan of live theater, she volunteered for Theater Conspiracy. She also volunteered for local Democratic Party candidates, held "community conversations" at Lee County assisted living facilities, and hosted friends and family from colder regions.

She is survived by her husband; her son, Andrew Braunberger; her daughter, Christine Braunberger; her son-in-law, Martin Walls; and her adored grandchild, Alex Walls.