July 20, 2022

By Darcy Fargo
Editor

Serving the Diocese of Ogdensburg for more than 50 years, Father Peter M. Berg will be remembered as a “caring and giving priest,” said Father Sony G, Pulickal, vicar forane of the Hamilton-Herkimer Deanery and pastor of St. Ann’s Church in Wells and St. James Major Church in Lake Pleasant.

“He was a super nice priest,” Father Pulickal said. “He was a simple priest. He lived a simple lifestyle. He was always thinking about his people, especially the less fortunate, and sharing what he had, both money and time.”

Since his ordination in 1971, Father Berg served at St. Patrick’s, Watertown; St. Peter’s, Lowville; St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ogdensburg; Sacred Heart, Massena; St. Vincent of Paul, Cape Vincent; St. Mary’s of the Lake, Plattsburgh; St. Michael’s, Antwerp; St. Joseph’s, Philadelphia; Holy Angels, Altona and St. Alexis, Jericho; Notre Dame, Malone and St. Augustine, North Bangor. His final and longest assignment, from June 2003 until April of 2022, was as Pastor of St. Therese in Newcomb and St. Henry’s in Long Lake. Father Berg also served as full-time Catholic Chaplin at Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Dannemora from 1991-2002.
Father Pulickal said he brought those communities a reverent love of the Eucharist and service.

“He loved the Eucharist,” Father Pulickal said. “Even when he was sick, he wasn’t able to stand for Mass, but he still wanted to celebrate. He’d collapse between Masses. He was that committed to the Eucharist. He went to the nursing home in North Creek regularly. He and Father (Philip T.) Allen would take turns covering Mass there. North Creek is pretty far away from Newcomb. He was committed and dedicated.”
Father Pulickal said Father Berg was also known for his generosity.

“People would give him gift certificates for the restaurant in Long Lake,” Father Pulickal said. “He’d collect all the gift certificates. He’d wait until he had $100 or $150 in gift certificates, and he’d invite all the priests from the area to the restaurant and give us lunch. People would give him something for himself, gift certificates for his own food, and he’d share it with others.”

Father Berg also had a reputation for being an “independent thinker,” Father Pulickal said.

“He’d read all the articles and news and what all the bishops think, yet he was always his own man and an independent thinker,” he said. “He disliked clericalism, and he worked to dilute that image of clericalism. He was a quality priest. I liked him.”

The two also shared an inside joke.

“Among all the meat items, he only ate chicken,” Father Berg said. “I called him ‘the chicken priest.’”

A complete obituary is printed below.

Mass of Christian Burial to be held August 5

Reverend Peter Michael Berg, a beloved parish priest of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, peacefully passed away at his home in Bennington, New York, surrounded by loved ones on July 3, 2022.

Born February 16, 1941, the son of Louis and Agnes (nee Quinlan) Berg. Father Berg grew up and attended school in Tonawanda, New York, graduating from Bishop Duffy High School. Following his father who was a career postal employee, he worked for a short time at the Tonawanda Post Office. Father Berg then once again followed his father’s footsteps joining the US Navy, serving proudly on active duty from 1960-1962. He then began his priestly studies, graduating from St. Bernards School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester in 1971. On December 5, 1971, he was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in St. Patrick’s Church in Watertown, New York, by the Most Reverend Stanislaus Brzana, bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg.

For the next 50 years, he traveled throughout the North Country serving the faithful at numerous parishes including, St. Patrick’s, Watertown; St. Peter’s, Lowville; St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ogdensburg; Sacred Heart, Massena; St. Vincent of Paul, Cape Vincent; St. Mary’s of the Lake, Plattsburgh; St. Michael’s, Antwerp; St. Joseph’s, Philadelphia; Holy Angels, Altona and St. Alexis, Jericho; Notre Dame, Malone and St. Augustine, North Bangor. His final and longest assignment, from June 2003 until April of 2022, was as Pastor of St. Therese in Newcomb and St. Henry’s in Long Lake. Father Berg also served as full-time Catholic Chaplin at Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Dannemora from 1991-2002.

Whenever Father Berg arrived at a new church, he began a process of visiting every parishioner in the parish, which sometimes took over a year. For many of those visited, it began a lifetime relationship.

Father Berg lived a spartan life, spending almost nothing on himself, yet he would give away anything to anyone in need. As one parishioner described him, “he was a saintly man who lived the Beatitudes.” Father Berg made a lasting impact on those he shepherded, right up to his death he was corresponding with hundreds of former parishioners going back to his first assignment.

Father Berg also served as his family’s genealogical researcher and keeper of family records. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Tonawanda Historical Society and the Northern New York American-Canadian Genealogical Society.

Father Berg is survived by his brother, David Berg, and his wife, Dawn, with whom he spent the last three months of his life; his sister, Mary Jo Butler, and her husband, Bob; along with many nieces, nephews and cousins.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by the Most Reverend Terry R. LaValley, bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg, at 1 p.m. on August 5 at St. Therese Church in Newcomb.

Father Sony G. Pulickal, vicar forane of the Hamilton-Herkimer Deanery, will be the homilist.

Father Berg’s ashes will be interred in the historic Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Tonawanda, the same chapel where he received the sacraments of baptism, First Communion and confirmation, and where he served as an altar boy.

Memorial donations may be made to the Tonawanda Historical Society, 413 Main St. Tonawanda, NY 14150.