Passages: Mary Kate Berger
Posted February 7, 2015 at 11:37 am by Tim Dustrude
Mary Kate Berger
Just got this note from former Update editor Ian, and wanted to share it with you 🙁
This last couple of weeks, our friend Mary Kate Berger has been in the hospital in Bellingham with a relapse (she’s been treated for cancer for the past year). She passed away yesterday, and the island has lost a dear friend.
She moved to San Juan Island with her friend Sharon Hamell back around 2000 or so, and settled into island life. She came to work with me at By Design in 2002, and quickly turned into a top-notch website creator, as well as making friends with the folks who came through the office.
I’m guessing you knew her in a bunch of different roles: Volunteering at the Children’s Festival, Animal Shelter fundraisers, and anything Island Rec needed a hand with; helping with non-profit websites like the Soroptimists & Animal Shelter, and smiling the whole time. At By Design, we offered to be the spot where folks with cancer could pick up ferry tickets for off-island treatment, offered for free by the Soroptimists – she managed that program for four years.
In 2009, she bought the By Design client list from me, and started her own design studio, which she called MKate Design, continuing to touch people’s hearts and lives with her straightforward yet gentle spirit.
When we held a fundraiser for her back in August, it was amazing to see the broad range of the island folks who came to drop a dollar in the bucket & give her a hug and a smile. She touched so many islanders’ lives, and people loved her, in return.
Like so many islanders, I feel lucky to have gotten the chance to hang around with MK for all these years, in the office, around town, and with both of us having each other’s numbers set for speed dial as we looked after our clients after she started her own studio. She made amazing things happen on the island, and for the island, and one of the most amazing was meeting & marrying Tom Berger in early 2013. To be with them, together, was a chance to feel the glow of love, turned up.
Back in 2007, one of our clients told Mary Kate that whenever she wasn’t sure what was going on with her website, she could talk to MK and she knew that when Mary Kate smiled, everything was gonna be all right. And that’s how I feel now, as so many of her friends & husband miss our wonderful friend … the island is a brighter & more wonderful place because Mary Kate has been with us.
Happy trails, dear friend.
Note – We will post more information about a Celebration of her life and an obituary as information becomes available.
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Categories: Around Here
8 comments:
8 comments...
So very sad to hear this news. I knew Mary Kate was struggling but had no idea it was progressed so far. Mary Kate assisted me time and time again with all my questions regarding my website etc. She was always ready with a smile and frequently settled my tech confusion with her easy manner and gentle teaching of the website realm. She was a gentle soul and will be missed by many. Very sad indeed.
Farewell, dear, dear person. We met Mary Kate and Sharon when they first came to town and signed up for a mailbox at Post San Juan. Sad to think they are both now gone on ahead. Mary Kate was one big heart, and very patient with all of us.Sorry to lose her.
Liz and Janna
I am so blessed to have shared so many special moments with this dear friend.
She made everyone feel special when she was with them because she was so special. We will miss her smile.
Peace to Mary Kate. We will miss her bright spirit. Thank you for the nice notice, Ian.
I can hardly conceive of a world without your smile and loving spirit ready to be found around walking around the corner. While that part of you will never leave us, your absence will leave an perpetual void. I hope you know how deeply, and wonderfully you touched us all, my beloved friend.
Mary Kate was one of my very first (and best) friends on the island. She took over my PA job when I left for maternity leave over 14 years ago and introduced us to Sharon, forging a set of incomparable friendships I will cherish to the end of my days. I feel so blessed to have known her and had prayed so hard for her to have so much longer with us.
Tom, if you ever have need, we’d love to give you the hugs we would be giving her if we could.
Mary Kate had a way of answering what must have been irritatingly repetitive questions about my website in the nicest and kindest of ways. She was really good at her profession and was a kind and generous soul. Our community lost a very good neighbor, but we are richer for having known her.
I was so shocked and deeply saddened to learn of Mary Kate’s passing. She created a fabulous website for me and was always happy and patient with me. What a loss to our Island family.
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