Richard Bergeth, 95, of Devils Lake, ND, died Friday, August 4 at CentraCare Care Center in Willmar. His funeral will be 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, August 22 at Gilbertson Funeral Home, 509 Highway 2 West, Devils Lake, ND with visitation from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service. Interment will be in Devils Lake City Cemetery. Funeral arrangements are with Harvey Anderson Funeral Home in Willmar. www.hafh.org
Richard Dale was born June 26, 1928, in Devils Lake, North Dakota, the son of Palmer and Agnes (Nelsen) Bergeth. He was raised in the Penn area, growing up on the farm, attending Penn Community School through the 8th grade. He later attended farm business classes at Lake Region Junior College in 1965. Richard lived on the farm with his parents his entire life until the passing of his father in 1982, shortly after he and his mother moved into an apartment in Devils Lake where he would be her caretaker for the last many years of her life. He would live in Devils Lake until he briefly moved to Willmar, MN, to be near his nephew and family.
Richard was a “man of the earth” who enjoyed the daily life of farming. He was a grain farmer, who loved planting and harvesting, he was a good steward of the land. He was also a pilot, crop duster and member of the North Dakota Civil Air Patrol. He loved anything that was fast, owning several planes, motorcycles and 3-wheelers. He traveled the country with his brother Bob going to Golden Gloves boxing matches, even attending professional matches on occasion in Las Vegas. In later years, he loved going to the movies, and working on his antique tractors, owning more than 50 over the years, driving them in parades. He traveled the country visiting his family and spending time with them, going to see Todd in Wyoming, South Dakota and Texas, while also visiting Stacey in Georgia. He would make several trips to the west coast to visit Lauren and her family.
Surviving are his nephew, Todd (Tanya) Bergeth of Willmar; niece, Stacey (Tim) Nelson of Cumming, GA, and cousin, Lauren (Daniel DePaulo) Taylor of Bellingham, WA.
He was preceded in death by his parents and siblings, Robert, in 2020, and Ila, in 1943.
