LOIS BERGE

BERGE Lois E. Berge (Age 75) Attorney and Founder and Director of New Family Foundation, an international adoption agency in the District of Columbia, passed away on June 9, 2020, after a brave and hard-fought battle with cancer. Lois was predeceased by her husband, James Berge, who passed away in 2010. Lois was described by her husband as the "most extraordinary person" he had ever known, and she was widely respected by her family, friends, and others for her intellect, grace, sense of humor, strength, and generous and caring spirit. An only child, Lois was born in St. Paul, MN into a family of Swedish/German background that valued hard work, kindness to others, and attending church. Growing up, she had a true love for horses, showing them competitively throughout the United States, and she also enjoyed playing piano, reading, and listening to Twins games on the radio. She was an excellent student and especially loved literature. Lois had considerable talent as an actress, playing Desdemona and other leading roles in college and high school productions. It was in the theater where Lois met James at 20 years old, and her beauty, talent, and boldness bowled James over. They were married a short time later while still undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota. After receiving degrees in English and Psychology, Lois and James moved to the Washington, DC area in 1969. Lois graduated from University of Maryland School of Law in 1973 and began prosecuting anti-trust cases for the Federal Trade Commission, later entering into private practice. After her second child was born, she gave up the practice of law and devoted her energy to raising her family and directing charitable functions related to helping children in need. In 1987, Lois founded New Family Foundation, an international adoption agency devoted to finding loving homes for orphaned and abandoned children from all over the world. She served as the agency's Executive Director for nearly 13 years. She was a visionary and pioneer in this regard-growing the agency from nothing more than a dream into a highly successful organization, working across the globe with orphanages that had not previously been open to U.S. adoptions. Because of Lois, thousands of orphaned and abandoned children-including three children she and her husband adopted-had the love of families of their own and opportunities for better lives. Lois was a fiercely devoted, loving, and kind mother to her five children, always putting their needs ahead of hers. She was involved in her children's academic, athletic and career pursuits, spending hours upon hours of time on the sidelines of soccer fields and basketball courts, advocating for her children, helping with homework, and otherwise making countless special childhood memories for her family. She was also a very loving and thoughtful Nana and cherished her relationships with her grandchildren. Lois was able to master nearly anything she set out to accomplish and had an exceptionally broad range of interests. She loved art, music, cinema, theater, and sports; bred and showed champion dogs; wrote novels; read voraciously; volunteered for political causes; led discussion groups; researched family genealogy going back many generations in Sweden and Norway; organized sports teams and a soccer league; cooked cuisines of all kinds; and probably had eaten at every Indian and Chinese restaurant in Montgomery County. She was an original thinker and a rule breaker. Never afraid of a challenge or what others thought, she forged her own path and lived on her own terms. She is lovingly survived by her children, Miranda and Zachary, and her adopted children, Stacey, Alonzo, and Mariya. She is also survived by her six grandchildren, Gabriella, Torsten, Annika, Katarina, Noah and Wren, and was predeceased by her husband, James L. Berge, in 2010, after nearly 44 years of marriage. She was very much loved and will be deeply missed. Service and interment private. Donations to Homes of Hope India in Lois's memory may be made at https://www.homeofhopeindia.org/donate/. Please view and sign the family guestbook at www.pumphreyfuneralhome.com. www.pumphreyfuneralhome.com.