Margaret R. "Margie" Berg

In Loving Memory of

Margaret "Margie" R. Berg

(nee Honrath)

December 12, 1958 - March 13, 2026

Margie Berg – professional coupon clipper, amateur caterer, terror behind the wheel, champion of the underdog, semi-professional kazoo player, and self-described Dancing Queen – passed away on Friday, March 13th, 2026.

Margie, the youngest of five siblings, was born Margaret Honrath to parents Norbert and Dorothy. Products of the Great Depression, Norb and Dory instilled in their daughter an appreciation and respect for every scrap and cent - a guiding principle that Margie would live by her entire life. She had a remarkable ability to do a lot with a little - give Margie a plastic bucket and a few marbles and she could entertain a three-year-old for hours. Give Margie a box of noodles, a few hunks of cheese, and a kitchen the size of a linen closet and she could – and very often did - feed legions.

A fiercely devout Catholic, Margie never missed a mass or an opportunity to pray the rosary. Her true joys were helping people and anyone anywhere saving money. She was a longtime volunteer at the St. Mary's thrift store, which her children suspected was her way of getting first dibs on all the newly arrived items. Pathologically generous, Margie could not stop herself from buying items for family, friends, neighbors, or students if she spotted just what they needed while out shopping. If you mentioned a thing you liked, Margie would show up at your door with eight of them, which she'd always found at a great price.

Brilliant and curious, Margie was a restless explorer (and occasional trespasser). A born storyteller, Margie could talk her way into – and out of – just about anything. She loved to listen to and play music, often on a large unwieldy instrument pulled from her purse like Mary Poppins. She danced like no one was watching and had a cackle that crashed through rooms. It wasn't a party until Margie showed up with the glow sticks and pinata.

Margie was, in a word, a force. She was spunky and tough. She had to be. Life dealt Margie some tough blows, the most significant being the unexpected death of her adoring husband of 27 years, Bill. It was a devastating loss that affected her deeply – but with an indomitable spirit and unwavering faith, Margie pushed through grief, fear, malfunctioning appliances, leaky roofs, and piles of broken-down vehicles, to put all five of her children through school and into happy marriages. It was her crowning achievement.

Desperately missing her are her five children Nick (Emily), Tony (Mary), Becky (John), Josh (Katie), and Peter (Jenny) - whose names she never got right - and her grandchildren Noah, Hazel, Oscar, Mariah, Leia, Evangeline, and newly arrived Gordon.

While her children committed unspeakable crimes against humanity, Margie's grandchildren could do no wrong. While her children grew up on bags of carrots and dairy of dubious origin, Margie's grandchildren feasted on mountains of sugary treats - including her famous dirt cups. Margie *loved* being a grandmother and her love for her grandkids was unmatched.

Also mourning Margie are her beloved siblings - Marianne (Scott), Jim, Bill (Beth), and Chris - loving brothers and sisters-in law – Rick (the late Lee), Steve (Sue), Ann (the late John), John (Teri), Karen (the late Wally) – as well as dozens of adoring nieces and nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and countless friends.

No amount of time with the incredible Margie would have been enough for her family and friends, though she gave us enough laughs and memories to last several lifetimes. Oh, how we loved her!

Relatives and friends may join the family on Wednesday, April 15, at St. Dominic's Catholic Church, 18255 W. Capitol Dr., Brookfield, from 1:30 PM to 2:45 PM, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 3:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you do something nice for somebody else, unexpectedly and without explanation.

Private inurnment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, Milwaukee.