Catholic Diocese Tucson

CATHOLIC OUTLOOK 7 JANUARY 2020 as unstoppable as the beloved Old Pueblo During that time, Berg used to enjoy hanging out with her family, in- cluding visits to their Saturday night poker games. At a holiday game on July 4, 1944, she again became extremely ill and was rushed to the hospital. Diagnosed with pneumonia, she fell into a coma that lasted 10 days. Berg said she remembers waking up in an oxygen tent and vomiting large volumes of green sputum, just before her mother was to visit. The nurses cleaned her up as best as pos- sible. When her mom arrived, “she looked so amazed. She thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Berg said. In 1946, she married Donald Walter Hinman. Nine months later, Charles Clifford Hinman was born. Years later, Charles was studying at the University of Arizona’s aerospace engineering program and a member of the Air Force ROTC when he was diagnosed with cancer in April of 1968. He died on Dec. 7. Despite an autopsy, the exact type of cancer was never determined, Berg said. Doctors theorized it might have started somewhere in thymus gland and metastacized in other parts of his body, she added. Berg recalled having to deal with the hardship alone, because five years into her marriage with Donald, it sud- denly ended. “He just went to work one day and never came back.” There was no reason, no message, no contact with him, Berg said, and the suddenness of the loss made her feel sad and embarrassed. She quietly filed for divorce and moved on. In 1955, beyond her expectations, she married Robert “Bob” Berg. “He was just a great guy. I didn’t think I was ever going to marry again.” For more than two decades, they lived happily together. They bought a house on the East side and Berg, a carpenter by trade, remodeled it. They kept two horses in back, and a swimming pool for Berg to get her daily workout. In October of 1978, Bob was diag- nosed with cancer. He died two years later. Berg admitted thatlosing Bob had a huge impact on her life. She said she felt lost. Then in 1981, she was sitting in her den and “a little voice came to me.” That “voice” encouraged her to call Salpointe Catholic High School, located not far from her home. She was offered a job as a counselor and finance teacher. She said that at the time “I didn’t even know where it was.” She worked there for 13 years, before retiring – for good – at age 74, in 1994. “I decided I would retire before I died,” Berg said. She joined a local seniors’ group and kept right on living. At age 81, she had heart surgery to repair a mitral valve. Guess what? She recovered fully. At 100, Berg still cares for her own home, including regular house- work and laundry. She has no desire to travel, and the only health issues coming up are some injections to treat macular degeneration. She still is also generous with the income she gleans from a number of annuity investments she established over the years, following the same advice she learned as a child. “It was just like my father told me. ‘Money makes money.’” Photo courtesy of Club Congress website Street scene showing the paving on Congress street in 1913. Catholic Outlook photo by Michael Brown Tucson Citizen photo by John Hemmer courtesy of the Arizona Daily Star Above, Therese poses in front of a row of old adobe buildings in the downtown area in May 1983. At left, she points out a picture of her mother from among a wall of pictures and por- traits of family members in her Tucson home.