GLOUCESTER: Geraldine (Dark) Garberg, 94, died peacefully Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at Beverly Hospital. She was the wife of the late Philip Garberg who died in 2004.
Born in Dodson, Louisiana on March 20, 1919, she was the daughter of the late Peter Troupe and Kara (Crain) Dark.
Gerri grew up on a small farm owned by her family. They raised cotton, corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, and other produce, as well as pigs, cows, horses, mules, goats, and chickens. Planting, weeding, harvesting, and tending the animals all took place under the sometimes fierce Louisiana sun. In the fall, she and her siblings would come home early from school to help harvest cotton. The work was hard and exhausting.
Once, she and her sister were sent to plant a field in cotton. Tired and hot at the end of the day, they dumped the last portion of seed stock in a corner of the field. A few weeks later, when the patch erupted in a dense mass of cotton seedlings, their misdeed was discovered, and she and her sister got “a talking to.”
That might have been the last time she was ever rebuked for neglecting her work: in her later career, Gerri would invariably impress employers with her strong commitment to doing the best job possible. After leaving home to attend a business college in New Orleans, she took on a range of challenging jobs with private and government organizations. Since her husband was a government attorney subject to frequent relocations to places around the US, Gerri was obliged to find new work every few years in different parts of the country, from Louisiana, California, North Dakota, Illinois, and Iowa. She worked at the Dept. of Labor for the state of Louisiana, Standard Oil, Bechtel Corporation, Kirtland Air Force Base, Prairie State College, and Joliet Arsenal.
At her jobs, this farm girl won praise for the quality of her work as a secretary and assistant to corporate and government officials. They spoke of her unrelenting determination to finish projects on time no matter what, even coming to work despite sickness when important deadlines loomed. All the while she was unfailingly cheerful and optimistic despite the pressures of business, and many work colleagues became lifelong friends.
Despite her distaste for farm labor, she retained a love of working outdoors. Her carefully tended gardens were always admired in the communities where she lived.
Gerri was a conscientious friend, mother, grandmother and wife. She was always seeking new opportunities to make and sustain relationships—dancing, playing bridge or golf, attending church, making the regular round of parties that she hosted or attended wherever she lived—or playing cards with her granddaughter.
She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Roger B. Garberg and Marion “Mern” Sibley of Gloucester; a granddaughter, Lucy Garberg of Gloucester; a sister, Melba Durham of Jackson, MS; two brothers, John Dark of Bossier City, LA and Bill and Vi Dark of Shreveport, LA, a sister-in-law, Mary Peinovich of Sun City West, AZ, and several nieces and nephews.
Her memorial service will be held on Sunday, February 23rd in the Pike-Grondin Funeral Home, 61 Middle Street, Gloucester at 3 p.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. There will be a collation afterwards at the East Gloucester home of Roger and Mern. There are no visiting hours. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to the Gloucester Education Foundation, P.O. Box 1104, Gloucester, MA 01930.