Ellen Elizabeth Bergman

1952 - 2021

By Mike Sigov
Blade Staff Writer

GENOA, Ohio - Ellen Elizabeth Bergman, a longtime area educator who was active with local civic groups and spruced up state historical markers after retirement, died Nov. 20 at her Genoa residence. She was 69.

She died after a brief bout with pancreatic cancer, said Thomas Bergman, a son.

Mrs. Bergman was passionate about education's role in improving people's lives, he said.

"She saw her students' potential and helped them achieve it, aiming to help them 'become a better version of themselves than they thought they could be,' to quote her," her son said.

Mrs. Bergman retired in 2017 after at least 15 years as a reading specialist and mentorship coordinator for Genoa Schools.

Before that, she was at different times an Ottawa County Board of Education coordinator for the programs for talented and gifted children and a reading teacher at several parochial schools in the Oak Harbor and Fremont areas, beginning in the mid-1970s.

In retirement, Mrs. Bergman, who also was a local history buff, helped repaint dozens of historical markers throughout northwest Ohio.

Over the years, she had also been active in the Genoa Tree Commission, Genoa Planning Commission, Genoa Food Pantry, the Genoa Chamber of Commerce, and Genoa Historical Society.

"She lived out her Catholic faith with kind works and compassion for others," said Elizabeth Bergman, a daughter.

Born Sept. 27, 1952, in Fremont to Gloria and Wesley Fahrbach, she graduated Fremont Ross High School in 1970 and chose to follow an inspirational high school teacher's lead and pursue a career in education.

She obtained a bachelor's degree in education from Bowling Green State University in 1974, followed by a master's in that field from the University of Toledo.

Mrs. Bergman worked at area parochial schools for a time and later studied early-childhood education for half-a-year in 1979 at the Maria Montessori Institute in London. She then taught at an American school in Buenos Aires for a year, from 1981 to 1982, before returning to Fremont at the start of the Falklands War.

Later in 1982, she married Henry Bergman. He died in 2000, and she finished raising their five children thereafter.

"She took our development very seriously, prioritized lifelong learning, and sacrificed financially to make sure we all got excellent education," her daughter said.

In her free time, Mrs. Bergman liked to research family and local history. She also enjoyed gardening, cultivating trees and shrubs, and raising monarch butterflies in her garden.

She was a longtime member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Genoa, where she was active in multiple projects, including the renovation of a shrine to Virgin Mary.

Along with her husband, Henry Bergman, Mrs. Bergman was preceded in death by her brother, Wesley Richard Fahrbach II, a Fremont teacher turned businessman and politician.

Surviving are her daughters, Elizabeth, Kathleen, and Nicole Bergman; sons, Henry Bergman III and Thomas Bergman; sisters, Phyllis Fahrbach and Donna Bergman; brothers, John, Paul, David, and Michael Fahrbach, and four grandchildren.

Visitation will be Friday from 1 to 8 p.m. at the Robinson-Walker Funeral Home in Genoa. A funeral Mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, also in Genoa.

The family suggests tributes to the Genoa Historical Society.