Mrs. Burkett Kibler Bergl

A memorial service for Mrs. Burkett Kibler Bergl of Morganton will be held at the First United Methodist Church in Morganton, Monday, April 16 at 11:00 a.m with Rev. Dr. Sydnor Thompson, III officiating. The family will receive friends in the Upper Gathering Room from 10:00 until 11:00 a.m. An interpreter for the deaf will be provided.

Mrs. Bergl died April 2, 2007 at Abernethy Laurels, Newton, NC. She met and married Alex Olsen Bergl while they were both serving with the Army Medical Corp at Hoff General Army Hospital in Los Angeles during WWII. He predeceased her in death. She was born in 1908, and was the daughter of Michael Benedict Kibler and Gertrude Wagg Kibler of Morganton; the granddaughter of William P. M. Kibler and Louisa Bristol Kibler, and of the Reverend Dr. Thomas H. E. Wagg and Mary Ellen Burkett Kibler, all of whom predeceased her. She was also preceded in death by a sister, Mozelle Kibler Horton and husband O. Lee Horton; brother Michael Benedict Kibler, Jr. and wife Margaret Blackwell Kibler; brother William Eugene Kibler and a brother-in-law Russell Lamar Berry. She leaves two sisters, Evelyn Kibler Berry of Morganton and Mary Kibler Osenga of Los Angeles, CA, and a sister-in-law Ann Hollingsworth Kibler (Mrs. William Eugene Kibler) as well as many loving nieces and nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews.

Mrs. Bergl was a lifelong teacher of the deaf and those with learning disabilities. She studied at the North Carolina School for the Deaf in Morganton, completing their 2-year course requirements. She completed her BA at the University of California, Santa Barbara, majoring in Education of the Deaf. She completed her M.A. at Appalachian State University.

She taught at St. Mary’s School for the Deaf, Buffalo, New York, and through the University of California, taught many institutions for the deaf in and around Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Hollywood and Los Angeles, CA. She taught both the deaf and those preparing to teach the deaf. She taught at Clarke School for the Deaf, Northhampton, Massachusetts, and was the Speech Pathologist at the Cerebral Palsy Center, Kingsport, Tennessee. She also taught at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, St. Augustine, Florida, as well as institutions in Jacksonville, FL. An article in the "Hickory Daily Record", July 22, 1969, says of Mrs. Bergl that "She has the rare distinction of being one of the few persons to have been certified in clinical competence by the American Speech and Hearing Association in both speech pathology and in audiology."

She served from 1944-1946, with the U.S. Army Medical Corp as teacher, lecturer, audiologist, and speech pathologist at the Hoff General Army Hospital, Santa Barbara, California. She worked with the wounded returning from the Pacific with damaged hearing and speech. She was also stationed at the Bordon General Army Hospital in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

Mrs. Bergl returned to Morganton, NC, in 1965, and taught at Appalachian State University and Lenoir Rhyne College. She is best known for her teaching at the NCSD in Morganton during those years. She was instrumental in the planning and writing of Developmental Program for Preschool Deaf Children, 1967. She developed the Curriculum Guide and Instructional Materials, Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, 1964. Mrs. Bergl continued to tutor many children and young adults with learning disabilities into her eighties.

She moved to assisted living at Abernethy Laurels in 1997. No one could be sure which name was her given name or how to pronounce it. She became known affectionately as "BB" and for rolling down the hall in her wheelchair when she could no longer walk, blowing kisses to all she met. When she was moved into the nursing care facility, she spent time with those with disabilities, taking their hand and speaking with them. She continued to blow kisses even when she had lost her hearing and spoke less.

Mrs. Bergl was for many years the historian of the Schubert Music Club. She enjoyed working in oils and watercolor. She was a member of the Burke Arts Council and the Historic Burke Foundation.

The family requests that in lie u flowers, memorials may be made to the Combined Choirs, c/o First Baptist Church, PO Drawer 459, Morganton, NC 28680, or to the First United Methodist Church Music Program, 200 N. King St., Morganton, NC 28655, or to Abernethy Laurels, 102 Leonard Ave., Newton, NC 28658. Sossoman Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.