don sees the world

Denny Bergquist 1934 - 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

Denis was born on May 26, 1934 in Little Falls, Minnesota. He grew-up on a farm northeast of Parkers Prairie, attended Parkers Prairie High School and studied engineering at the University of Minnesota, and worked on road construction projects as a part of the Civilian Conservation Corps.

A veteran of the Korean War, he served in the Quartermaster's Corps during the drawdown of forces. After returning from Korea, Denny returned to Minnesota, began his career with the railroads, and married his high school sweetheart, Jeannie Johnson. Denny and Jeanne had four children, Mary, Denis, Donald, and Charles.

While living in Miami, his family was one of the founding families of St. Kevin's Catholic Church. He served on the Fundraising and Building Committees, Knights of Columbus, and other key roles. Denny was one of the founding board members for Boy Scout Troop 599, serving as Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, and in other key roles.

His long and storied career with the railroads took the growing Bergquist family from Minnesota to Seattle, to Miami, where they would remain for the next twenty years. Denny was the main Railroad Safety officer for the Florida East Coastline railway company in Miami Springs, and later worked as a Private Investigator and Railroad Safety expert for the prestigious Miami Beach law firm of Hastings, Goldman, and Forman.

Jeanne died in a traffic accident in 1980. He met his second wife, Florence, the following year and they married in November of 1981. Denny moved back to Minnesota in 1982 and bought a home outside of Kensington in the following year.

Denny continued his railroad career In Minnesota by starting a railroad safety consultancy. He was a well known expert in the field and his advice and testimony was highly sought.

Returning to Minnesota gave him time to spend with his siblings and extended family and he took much pride and joy being able to spend his retirement close to the family. The annual Spring Gathering and Birthday Celebration was one of the highlights of his year as it gave him opportunities to reconnect with those he held so dearly in his heart .

Denny loved his new hometown and worked tirelessly as a booster for various civic projects. He was on the Runestone Park committee, President of Lions Club, and an Election Judge for the Holmes City Township. As an avid card player, Denny was one of the founding members of the Kensington Whist Club.

Denny died at home with his daughter and wife present after a prolonged battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, his four children, two step-children, their spouses, and six grandchildren.

Visitation:

7 to 9 PM Wednesday at the Anderson Funeral Home in Alexandria and one hour prior to the service at the church.

Service:
Mass of Christian Burial 11 AM Thursday, June 20, 2013 at Our Lady of the Runestone Church in Kensington. Interment will be in the church cemetery.

For those who would prefer, in lieu of Flowers, Donations may be made to Boy Scout Troop 599, Denis Bergquist Leadership Challenge at the below address.

Boy Scout Troop 599
C/O Cyndi Murphy
12977 SW 143rd Terrace
Miami, FL 33186

"...If You Think You Love Him Now..."

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

Yesterday I had the honor of escorting my stepmother, Flo, as she ran some errands that needed to be done in prep for the funeral. I am surprised that I had never heard this story before, but knowing the person involved, I can believe this entirely!

Flo tells me that on her way to the wedding, an old family friend of my parents, from Dad's Railroading days was in the car with Flo as she headed to the church.

At some point in the journey, Flo reports that the friend, Lorraine Long , leaned over to her and gave her a piece of advice she had never before been given: "You think you love him now..." she said, leaning in conspiratorially, "...just you wait!"

Lorraine was just that way, she never was shy about sharing what was on her mind. And, being a long-time friend of my Dad and Mom, she certainly had the knowledge to know what Flo was getting into.

My step-mom related this story to me yesterday, as I said, and I could only respond in amazement. "I have never heard that story!"

"I've never told anyone that story, I don't think I ever told your father that story!" She replied. "But you know, Lorraine was right. I loved your dad more with each passing day!"

I asked if she would mind if I shared this in my week of dedications to my dad on the blog and she gave me her assent. I have to add nothing to this, but my opinion that Lorraine was a very wise woman.

Wherever you are today, I hope that your life is getting better with each passing day.

Don Bergquist - June 18, 2013 - Kensington, Minnesota, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:18:00 +0000

Toast To Excess: It's National Splurge Day

Again With The Plans!?

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

Wow!

Deciding to take the back roads in - was fortuitous. The weather radio was going off when I came in the house yesterday. There were severe thunderstorms throughout the area that I would have been driving through all afternoon.

At the moment I have the house to myself. My aunt, sister, and step-mom are all in town doing something. I had planned on taking a nap when I got here, but the weather radio made that all but impossible.

Ya'd have thought I'd've learned by now. Yesterday was just lovely, apart from the nagging reminders that Dad is gone, it was the kind of day to revel in. I stayed in bed obscenely late. I made my way down to breakfast and had two cups of coffee as I lingered over email.

Then, to prove to myself that I was really not on any schedule or following any plan more than anything else, I went for a swim before packing the car and heading out. Why did I have to make that plan to take nap, had I not done so, I probably would have had the nap, I probably would have had the time to enjoy the loons calling to each other across the lake a while longer before falling asleep.

Ah! Well... Time to get this posted and open the work computer. I have a few loose ends I have to tie-up before I can allow my projects to sit unattended for the next week.

Wherever you are today, I hope your planning is more fortuitous than mine has been of late.

Don Bergquist - June 17, 2013 - Kensington, Minnesota, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 12:17:00 +0000

Eat Your Vegetables Day

Happy Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 05:21:00 +0000

I was driving through western Douglas County, Minnesota this afternoon when it suddenly struck me. As I passed the turn-off to The Kensington Runestone Park, it occurred to me that the last time I had been in that particular spot, headed that particular direction was just ten days ago.

Dad was alive, we had gone to his church so he could give confession, and go to mass. Then he wanted to stop in the park. We drove up to the top of the hill where we saw this scarlet tanager. We didn't stay long, because Dad tired so quickly in those final days. But he was in complete bliss as he stared out over the park he had helped to preserve and expand. I wonder, now, if he didn't know that this would be the last time he would see it. I am happy that his last drive was with me. I am glad to have had the time so share with my father.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you have not let any opportunities you have to spend time with your father pass you by!

Don Bergquist - June 16, 2013 - Kensington, Minnesota, USA

Best Laid Plans...

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

On of the lessons that my dad taught me was that not every thing you plan comes to pass. And just because you don't get what you plan for, it doesn't mean you don't get what you need.
I've just posted some pictures to my facebook page. Here is one of them:

This picture is brought to you by faltering plans!

Had I made it onto the road at butt-ugly early o'clock as I had planned to last night, had I been able to make it to my hotel in Sioux Falls by mid-afternoon to catch-up on the news and correspondence that undoubtedly was piling-up in my inbox, had I had the chance to luxuriate in the pool and relax this evening As I had planned too... I would not have been in Western Iowa this evening around sunset to take this picture.

Were a bit more superstitious, I would think that my road trip with all the failed plans that I had today (oops, it is after midnight - yesterday) were orchestrated to put me in just that location, at just that time, to take in the spectacular sunset! (I might also wonder about all the wildfires back in Colorado that, I am sure, are contributing to the amazingly red hue...)

Were I a less willing student, I might dismiss this as coincidence and nothing more and go on with my plans to get-up early and get breakfast somewhere on the road so that I can make it to Kensington by mid-morning. But I think the only plan I am actually going to make this evening (eh, morning) is to crawl under the big, fluffy duvet and not come out again until I feel like it. Perhaps - and this is NOT a plan, mind you, but perhaps - in the morning I will read some email and linger over breakfast. We'll see.

Wherever you are, I hope than any setbacks you suffered were as fortuitous.

Don Bergquist - June 16, 2013 - Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 12:16:00 +0000

Father's Day

Driving East

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

By the time this posts today, I will be driving east, about four hours of road behind me, another ten-or so to go. Just me, my music, my podcasts, and my thoughts for the better part of a day-and-a-half to think about all the wonderful memories I had of my Dad.

So many of my memories of my father are centered around driving, from the hot, summer nights we would spend trying to cool off at the Tropic-Aire drive-in theatre on Bird Road, to the annual family road trip.

One of my earliest memories was of a road trip. One of our semi-annual vacation to Minnesota. On this particular trip, it was late at night and we had been driving all day and after a stop for A&W Root Beer Floats some where in Wisconsin, everyone in the car but Dad and I were happily snoozing. Even Shcatzi, was sleeping, chasing badgers or other evil-doers in her sleep.

The car was full of the sounds of snoring and the road noise of the tires. Dad was listening to the radio turned down low and there was one of those mystery-theatre programs playing that used to air late night on the AM stations - even this late into the sixties. I remember pretending to be asleep for a while, staring at the stars through the little clerestory window in the station wagon's roof, just where the back seat ended and the cargo area started. Eventually, I crawled to the front seat, snuggled under Dad's arm and we drove on in silence as the radio kept us entertained.

This gave me a love of driving and road trips that I still have to this day and very probably influenced my decision to start my broadcasting career.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you have happy memories that continue to influence your life!

Don Bergquist - June 15, 2013 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:15:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Karl

In Memoriam

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

My sister called me from my parents' home in Minnesota this morning. Dad passed away as he slept this morning. At the end, he was where he wanted to be, at his home in Kensington, Minnesota. I am informed that he was not in pain.

But this is not a sad entry, it is a happy entry. Happy because, in the end, Dad was exactly where he wanted to be; happy because Dad had a really good life, a family who loved him, two excellent marriages, and children who revered and wished to emulate him; happy because you could not know Denny Bergquist without being touched in some small way by this man who was, in many ways, larger than life.

Were I to take a page from Dad's playbook, this entire eulogy would be largely sophistic, sprinkled sparingly with just enough actual facts to make it seem more an accurate accounting than the work of fiction it would be. For years, for example, Dad insisted that our name, Bergquist (literally "Mountain-Branch" in Swedish) was an actual Swedish word which meant the green and growing branches at the very top of a pine. It wasn't until we started questioning this (still years before the advent of the internet, wherein we could easily check) that he introduced the idea that our name resulted from a misunderstanding at Ellis Island.

But this is a celebration and you should know Dad for who he was. Dad had an uncanny knack of getting people to like him. I have no recollection of ever having met someone who didn't more-or-less instantly like Dad. His sharp wit was almost always used for the purpose of entertaining –and he enjoyed a good joke as much as anyone. Even when he said something negative about someone, which was rare, he always coated it with enough kindles to make even the target of his comment accept it as constructive.

Dad had a way of teaching a lesson which made the student often fail to realize they were being taught. I am still coming to admire and realize the lessons he taught me as a child. Dad taught by demonstration. I will never forget the first time I realized he had taught me a lesson by this means. When I was younger, I was (and please gasp here – at least try to act like you can't believe it…) something of a brat! If I could get someone into trouble I would. There was a phase I went through of being a right pain in the ass; snitching on my siblings, and telling everyone everything that they wanted to know even if they had no business knowing it.

Now, all my life I have LOVED trains. Good thing too, with Dad being a railroad man! I would stare at trains for hours out his office window when he took me to work with him. I loved the rail yard and would, if not for the fear that he would kill me for going out into such a dangerous place – go out and stare at them more closely. Anyway, one day we were driving down to the Everglades and Dad spotted one of the Florida East Coastline crews stopped on a siding. Dad pulled the car over and looked into the back seat. "You guys want to go for a ride in the engine?" he asked.

Well! I was absolutely beside myself. As he walked over to talk to the crew I could barely keep myself from bolting from the car to run to the train. To this day, I have no idea what really transpired at the train – but the effect was the same regardless. Dad got back in the car looking absolutely crushed and informed us that we would not be riding in the train that day. One of the crew members was a bit of a gossip since having guests in the cab was against the rules, Dad could get in trouble.

Did I say Dad was crushed!? I was absolutely gutted. But I realized that the only reason that we weren't going on the train was that somebody could not keep to themselves something that they should. Needless to say, my tattling days were over. It was years before I realized that Dad had probably orchestrated the entire incident for specifically that reason.

That was the kind of person Dad was, though. He made you want to learn the lessons he had to teach. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to spend time with him both this year, and when his cancer was initially found four years ago. He will be missed, but I feel so glad to have had the opportunity to know him for the fifty-plus years that I had.

Wherever you are today I can only hope that you have someone as instructive in your life.

Don Bergquist – June 14, 2013 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:14:00 +0000

Flag Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 12:13:00 +0000

Sewing Machine Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:12:00 +0000

Red Rose Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:11:00 +0000

Hug Holiday Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:10:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Kayla

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:09:00 +0000

Happy birthday Donald Duck

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 12:08:00 +0000

Name Your Poison Day

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:06:00 +0000

D Day, World War II

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:06:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Deborah

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:05:00 +0000

1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.

what really I R (k) S me...

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

Good morning, readers! Please pardon my relative silence over the past few weeks. I have been far too busy to really irked by anything. Even the things that should have sent me into fits of righteous indignation have gone uncommented. But this IRS “Scandal” has me so baffled that I have to ask you, my readers, to explain something to me.

First-off, let’s get the scandal firmly in mind before we all fly off into odd and unintended tangents. I am not asking about the unconscionable use of their position to selectively enforce rules to promote a specific cause over another. If it is proven that this is something that happened head should roll (figuratively speaking as I am opposed to capital punishment) at the IRS. Personally, I think that this is yet another illustration that the US Tax Code is too convoluted to really be enforced – period!

No. I am talking about this stupid tape that keeps showing-up on every newscast for the past few days. You know the one. It shows IRS staffers who were at some retreat dancing, singing, and basically making fools of themselves. Now, I would have called that event a “Corporate Retreat” but the IRS is not a corporation and therein lay my point.

Had Harris, my former employer, done the exact same video at one of their corporate retreats they could have written the thing of as an expense of doing business. For all I know they have. I have been on a number of these corporate retreats and have seen (and much to my chagrin even participated in) few of them. They are justified as being “Team Building” and many corporate management strategies hold these as valuable tools for increasing the happiness and productivity of their staffs.

The argument that I keep hearing is that “tax payers paid” for these videos. To which I almost invariably yell at the Television Set “SO WHAT!?” Tax payers pay a lot more for things that are a lot less useful than a tool that might arguably make some government agency more efficient. No, I think that there are much more important things to consider when thinking about this story. For example, remember Harris – from the past paragraph? They are one of the largest US Government contractors. Just who do you think is paying for all those corporate retreats (replete with the silly videos of the ilk so oft shown over the past few days) that Harris throws for its employees?

Let me tell you, Mr. and Ms. Taxpayer. It is you! According to the way that government contracts are written anything that can be considered (or rationalized) as a part of the expense of delivering on the contract can be expensed back to the government. And according to the explanation my manager gave me of why the Government Services Division always flies First Class when we in the broadcast division were relegated to cattle class – not only do we pay the cost of the silly videos, Government Contractors are allowed to make a profit on the expense of doing business as well as on the products they sell the governemtn.

Think of the hundreds – or more likely THOUSANDS – of silly videos you’re already paying for (at government contract mark-up) that will never be seen on any newscast. No the IRS video is nothing to be angry about. The whole tax code and government contracting process is what you should be seething over.

That being said, I will step off the soap box and retire back into my busy schedule – hopeful that I have inspired ire in at least one of you, my dear readers, with this screed.

Wherever you are today, I hope that you will take a moment to think about what your check to the IRS is REALLY paying for.

Don Bergquist – 04 June 2013 – Kensington, Minnesota, USA

“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.”

― Robert A. Heinlein,
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:03:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my friend Helen

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:03:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my uncle Billy

noreply@blogger.com (Don Bergquist) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 17:21:00 +0000

National Rocky Road Day