Retired Major Mark L. Berg, 77 of Sioux Falls died Sunday evening April 19 at Avera McKennan Hospital.Mark was born at Denver, Colorado on July 23, 1942, son of Vernon and Ruth Berg.
After graduating from Woonsocket High School in 1960, he enrolled in ROTC at South Dakota State University to pursue his dream of being a USAF aviator. He completed his BS in Agriculture Ops and was commissioned in 1966.
He attended various flight training schools before completing his tour in Southeast Asia. Mark completed over 200 combat missions as an F-4D pilot and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After an assignment in Germany he then joined the South Dakota Air National Guard in 1973. In 1978, he then transferred to the Georgia Air National Guard where he retired in 1984.
Mark continued his education at Augustana University and received his BA in Business Administration in 1986 and MS in Human Resources in 1987. He became a Therapist/Counselor for special needs children for 11 rural school districts before retiring in 1998.
He is survived by his children; Jeff and his wife Jeanne of Riverview, Florida, Kari and her husband Mark McNeary of Aberdeen, Scot of Battle Ground, Washington and Kimberly of Hinesville, Georgia; 11 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren; three sisters; Joyce Brown of Rapid City, Janis and husband Tom Weatherford of Williamsburg, Iowa, Vicki and husband Rich Linke of Woonsocket.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Vernon and Ruth Berg.
Private family services will be held and burial will take place at Eventide Cemetery in Woonsocket, SD. A public memorial service will be held at a later date.