Ella Ruth Turner Bergera

Ella RuthTurner Bergera She listened & she loved   Ella Ruth Turner Bergera, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, and writer, passed away peacefully in her home on Tuesday, August 31, 2004.  She was 76 years old.  For the past 16 years, she had been living with polycythemia vera, a rare blood disease.   Ella Ruth was born on June 29, 1928, in Sunnyside, Utah, to Taylor and Ella Larsen Turner. She taught school in Utah and California. From 1967 to 1988, she taught Children's Literature at Brigham Young University. Following her retirement, she traveled extensively with family members and published five novels (Beware the Nothing Much, To Seek a Bird's Nest, The Reunion, The Class of '44, and Trapped in the Uintahs) as well as a collection of poetry (Crimson-Laced Sunsets.) Ella Ruth married James Bergera of Price, Utah, on May 22, 1953. Their marriage was later solemnized for time and eternity in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. She was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served a proselytizing mission to Norway, and filled numerous callings in local ward and stake Primaries, Young Women's organizations, Relief Societies, and Sunday School. Ella Ruth is survived by her husband, Jim; her five children: Gary (Salt Lake City); Gregg (Joann, Cedar City);  Scott (Janet, Payson), Cathy Bigler (Larry, Salt Lake City); and Paul (Salt Lake City); seven grandchildren:  Chelsie, Brittany, Ryan, and Austin Bergera (Payson); Jordan Bergera (Salt Lake City); and Riley and Scott Bigler (Salt Lake City); and brothers and sister: Dean Turner, Winifred Herbert, Clair Turner, and Paul Turner.   The family appreciates the support and assistance of many friends and health care workers during the final months of Ella Ruth's life. Ella Ruth's compassion, courage, and love have been, and continue to be, wellsprings of inspiration and hope for her family and friends. Among her poems, the following, entitled In Memoriam, may capture most completely Ella Ruth's final wish: She listened and She loved . When life's final breath has passed my lips and plans are made to lay me in the ground, these are the words I hope will be said of me. And, in coming years, when some small glimpse of me through melody or memory drifts across your thoughts, I would that She listened and she loved will be the better part of your remembrance. And, when time has passed for you, and we two once again smile into each other's eyes, and love hangs fiercely in the air between us, And when all else has turned to dust except the sweet yesterdays we shared, my dream and hope and wish will be that you will look at me and say, You listened and you loved. Funeral services will be Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004, at 11:00 a.m., in the 9th Ward LDS Chapel, 667 North 600 East, Provo. Friends may call at the Berg Mortuary of Provo, 185 E. Center Street, Monday, from 6-8 p.m., or Tuesday morning, at the Ward Chapel, one hour prior to services.  Interment, Provo City Cemetery.