It was huge crowd that spilled far into the overflow area from the church sanctuary. Arriving just as the funeral was about to start I was amazed to see that they parking lot was full of cars. Marjorie (Bergh) Davies born September 15, 1920 died March 22, 2017. the fourth of eight children, lived a remarkable life which was testified by the large crowd (300?) at the funeral. That seldom happens for one who dies at age 96.
Marjorie spent 30 years as a missionary in Africa. Since 1969 she had lived in Hutchinson. MN. Her older sister lived with her many of those years. Marjorie was a "people collector" who through acts of kindness gathered about her a huge fan club who spoke eloquently at her funeral about her compassion.
Marjorie's father, Oscar, was my mother's brother so Marjorie and I were cousins. Oscar was full of life and energy and when he entered a room it came alive. His lively sense of humor was found in all of his children, of whom only Dorothy is left.
There was a very large family contingent at the funeral spanning four generations. J. I., one of Marjorie's nephews teaches high school honors English. We like to trade book titles so I asked him if he had read J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy? Not only had he read it he had taught it at his high school. In the book Vance asserts that his people, Scotch-Irish, who migrated from Kentucky to Ohio, have a penchant for refusing personal responsibility, i.e., nothing is their fault. Vance argues that the political right has exploited this tendency by telling them "it's the government's fault." As J.I. were discussing this I remarked that was a far cry from the way I was raised where it was easy to believe "everything is my fault and I am responsible for everything." That struck a chord with J.I., who is a generatinon younger than I, but apparently grew up with the same ethic. That ultra developed sense of responsibility must come from our Scandinavian culture.
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