3/31/2009

Fire destroys memories and mementos of Courtland couple

By GARY DEMUTH

Salina Journal

COURTLAND -- The devil has worked overtime to curse the lives of Doris and Lyle Bergstrom.

But try as he might, Doris Bergstrom said, the devil is not going to prevail.

"He's not going to beat us," she vowed. "The devil might be trying, but God is good to us."

Doris, 58, and Lyle, 64, have good reason to believe their lives are bedeviled. In August 2005, their son Shawn, 34, and his wife, Dinah, 28, were killed in a car crash on their way back to their home in Seattle after a vacation in Kansas.

Three and a half years later, on the afternoon of March 23, a friend called Doris at Cloud County Health Department, where Doris works.

The Bergstroms' farm house in rural Courtland was on fire, the friend said.

"I asked how bad it was," Doris said. "She said it was all gone."

It took less than 30 minutes for the house, built by Lyle's grandfather in 1903, to burn to the ground. Mementos, photographs and memories of the Bergstroms' 40-year marriage were reduced to piles of black and gray ash.

The loss included irreplaceable antiques of the couple's Swedish heritage, dating back a century or more, Doris said.

"There was furniture and bookcases from our great-grandparents and trunks they had brought over from Sweden," she said. "The whole house had a century of heirlooms in it."

But the most personal loss to the Bergstroms was an original pencil sketch created by an artist friend that depicted their lost son and daughter-in-law -- a portrait of the couple being embraced by Jesus Christ.

The Bergstroms were so moved by the sketch that they had it laser-etched onto the tombstone of Shawn and Dinah. They kept the original at their home.

Now it, too, is ashes.

Struck by lightning

Thunderstorms and wind gusts up to 60 mph were reported throughout the area that Monday. Doris said the fire marshal speculated that the house had been struck by lightning.

"There was never a point of origin found in the house, so he thought lightning hit the roof," she said.

More than 20 fire trucks from five rural districts were sent to the house, Doris said, but by the time most of them arrived, the fire was so intense that many of the trucks ran out of foam.

"They had to go back for a refill," she said. "But fire doesn't wait. By 3:45, the house was totally gone."

The Bergstroms are living temporarily in the parsonage of Ada Lutheran Church, where they are parishioners. In about a week they plan to move to a furnished home in Kackley, about a mile from their farm and a couple of miles from the church.

In the meantime, the Bergstroms' friends, church congregation and family members have banded together to help them rebuild their lives.

An account for the couple has been opened at the Swedish American Bank in Courtland, and a fundraiser luncheon will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Pike Valley Elementary/Junior High School gymnasium.

The fundraiser, sponsored by area churches, will include pork burgers, salads and desserts for a donation.

"We really want to get the word out," said Carla Langston, a co-organizer of the luncheon and a coworker of Lyle's at C&W Farm Supply in Courtland. "They're so giving and ready to help people, and now they need help themselves."

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a Lutheran-based charity organization, has agreed to match all donations made at the luncheon and to the fundraising account, said the Rev. Noni Strand, campus pastor at Bethany College in Lindsborg and a friend of the Bergstrom family.

People are rallying around the Bergstroms because of the kind of people they are, Strand said.

"They're so genuine and so strong and have unbelievable faith," she said. "They're devastated by this, but they know things have to move on."

Shawn was a 1994 Bethany College graduate, and classmates have been asked to locate and donate photographs of Shawn to give to his parents, Strand said.

Shawn, who was working as a youth pastor in Seattle when he died, was a remarkable young man, Strand said -- just like his parents.

"He was such a creative youth director, musically talented and the life of the party," she said. "He and Dinah were a dynamic couple who touched so many people. There were 1,100 people at their funeral in Seattle. So we're trying to find pictures for Doris and Lyle to help restock their memories."

Doris said she is grateful that so much is being done for her and her husband, but she's rather embarrassed at all the attention.

"We're not used to being on the receiving end," she said. "We'd rather be on the working end."

The move to Kackley will just be temporary, Doris said. The couple plan to rebuild on the same land their family has owned for more than 100 years.

That's good news for their son Karl, 26, of Salina, who is devastated by the loss of his family home.

"Last time I was home was Christmas," he said. "So it was very shocking to pull in the driveway and not see the farm house I've known for 26 years."

Karl said he never had a doubt his parents would rebuild.

"When Mom and Dad put their heads together, there's not many times they won't get something done," he said.

Despite the tragedies of losing their son and daughter-in-law and their home, Doris said she and Lyle have a blessed life.

"If we had been at home during the fire, we never would have had a chance to get out of the house," she said. "It's amazing no one got hurt. That's why we count our blessings. We still have a wonderful family and an awesome life."

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.