Army Veteran Retires at Kingsway Retirement Living
Gordon “Gordy” Berge had one main reason for joining the United States Army: he couldn’t find another job. Following his enlistment, Gordy attended basic training in Kansas before he was transferred to Hawaii for more training in communications.
“We were going to be radio operators, but that’s when the Korean War broke out. I was taken directly to Korea,” Gordy explained. After six months in Korea, Gordy badly injured his knee and was sent to a hospital in Japan.
“I shattered my knee and had to have surgery and be on crutches,” he said.
Following his recovery, he become a trainer for new recruits at Fort Roberts in California. He was stationed there until the end of his military commitment in 1953.
He returned to Minnesota and began working in Albert Lea where he met his wife, Elaine. The couple lived in Austin, Minnesota, and raised their five children. They purchased a lake home in Waterville, Minnesota, and moved there after they retired. For several years, they spent their winters in Arizona.
As they began to look at retirement communities, the Berges learned about Kingsway Retirement Living from a family friend whose mother resided at Kingsway. They stopped in for a tour but decided they weren’t quite ready yet.
“It was probably two years later, as we were out here driving and decided to stop in. This unit had become open and so we decided to take it,” explained Elaine.
The couple returned home and told their children about their decision. The next weekend, the Berges moved in. In October, the couple will celebrate their seven years of calling Kingsway their home.
“We love everything about living here. We love the people, the staff, the small town, the restaurants, and all the activities for us,” Elaine said.
Gordy is only one of 80 veterans currently residing in a TLHA care community. In our 120th year of caring for souls, we are honoring both our veteran residents and team members. Our history begins with one family’s loss during the Civil War. A 15-year-old Ernst Boessling from Belle Plaine volunteered to serve with the Minnesota troops. He died in September of 1863 in service to his country at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
His mother, Sophie, had saved the government death benefits she received all the years after Ernst died. Wanting to provide a home for others like herself, she donated the money and her family’s farmland to build das Alten und Waisenheim—the Aged and Orphans’ Home. Now more than a century later, Sophie’s gift continues to benefit countless lives.
TLHA has active senior living, assisted living and memory care communities in Belle Plaine and Mankato, Minnesota, and River Falls, Fountain City, and Watertown, Wisconsin. Looking for a place to call home? Visit www.tlha.org/communities.