Obituary of Willa Sue Berg

Willa Sue Berg, a beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend, passed away peacefully Wednesday, March 19, 2025, leaving behind a legacy of love, faith, and unwavering devotion to her family and community.

Born on September 19th, 1942, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sue grew up in a lively, close-knit household as the youngest of five siblings. She attended Osage and Celia Clinton Elementary Schools, Cleveland Junior High, and graduated from Will Rogers High School in 1961.

Sue loved the magic of movies — Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz were two of her favorites — not just for the stories but also as a way, as she told her kids, to escape the summertime heat in Oklahoma.  She often reminisced about bygone historic theaters in Tulsa like the Majestic and the Ritz.

Her dearest high-school friend Joanne says they had many adventures, putting “a dollar’s worth of gas” in Joanne’s powder blue ’55 Chevy and going to Pennington’s Drive-In on Admiral, then to Pennington’s on Peoria, and then back home.

She married the love of her life, Norman, in 1963, and once they found each other, they were rarely ever apart. Together, they raised three children: Christopher, Stephen, and Gretchen.

Ever the storyteller, Sue also had a love of  history, so it’s no surprise that she was the historian for the Future Homemakers of America chapter at Rogers and later took on roles as historian, archivist, and tour guide at First Methodist Church, where she dedicated 38 years of service as the Nursery Director and later added duties as a Ministerial Assistant for her dear friend, Rev. Connie Ichord. Her meticulous care in preserving the church’s stories was matched only by her devotion to the children in her care. Her friends say Sue would often say, “Nothing will happen to them on my watch.”

Sue also was a leader on many church mission trips with the FMC youth groups, first because she felt like she needed to keep the teenagers out of trouble but also, as she quickly discovered, because she had a passion for helping the disadvantaged children at various schools and orphanages in Mexico.  The one in Matamoros, Mexico, was a favorite, and she made several return trips there.

Family was the heart of Sue’s life, and her children and grandchildren were her greatest joy. She poured her heart into attending every sporting event, performance, and milestone, never missing a moment to cheer them on.

Sue had an outgoing, gregarious spirit and also greatly enjoyed time with her friends, whether it was exercising at the church fitness center, lunch with the Skalniks and the Carrolls, Friday night dinners with the Newmans and the Neermans, or the big Super Bowl parties.

Sue was preceded in death by her husband, Norman; her parents, Willie and Lucille; her brother Fred; her sisters, Eva, Greta, and Libby; and her younger brother Alvin. She is survived by her sons, Christopher Berg and Stephen Berg; her daughter, Gretchen Landers and son-in-law John Landers; her grandchildren, Derrick Landers and his wife Mattie; Parker Landers; Gentry Landers and her fiancé Benjamin Simpson; Connor Berg; and her first great-grandson, John Ellis Landers; as well as numerous nieces and nephews and other extended family.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First Methodist Church’s Children’s Department or the General Fund, continuing Sue’s lifelong mission of nurturing and protecting the next generation.

Ninde Funeral & Cremation | (918) 742-5556 | ninde.com