Sigrid Berka, age 103, died after a short illness on November 22, 2015. Burial took place at Mound Cemetery in Le Sueur. A Memorial Service will be held 11:00 am Thursday, July 28, 2016 at First Lutheran Church in Le Sueur. There will not be a time of visitation; however, a luncheon will be served following the service to which all are invited.

Sigrid Berka, a longtime resident of Le Sueur County was born in Riga, Latvia April 25, 1912. Sigrid and her husband Arvid, together with their daughter Ilze, and her mother Johanna Vinks, came to Le Center as refugees from Latvia after fleeing the Russian occupation of their homeland. The family lived in Germany until 1950. A close friend, Karl Kaufmanis, who was teaching at Gustavus, helped them find jobs, and the people of St. Paul Lutheran in Le Center sponsored the Berka family and helped them establish a home. Sigrid worked in Le Center at the Spors company and then worked for Valley Memorial Hospital in Le Sueur until she retired. In recent years, Sigrid has lived in Le Sueur where she became a member of the First Lutheran Church.

Sigrid is survived by her daughter Ilze Olson from Westbrook, CT, granddaughter Lisa and her husband Bob Peck, grandson Andrew Olson, and great grandchildren Alan, Katy, and Davey Peck, all of Minneapolis. Sigrid was preceded in death by her husband Arvid (in 1973) and her parents, Karl and Johanna Vinks.