Duane Eldon Berger

Duane Eldon Berger born on 7/18/1942 in Bremen, Indiana, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on 7/18/2023 at Banner University Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona. As a toddler, his parents Kermit and Kathryn Berger decided to relocate to Mesa, Arizona where they became poultry farmers. His younger brother Jan recalls Duane at the age of 7 stating that he “was going to be a farmer” not of chickens but of fields. Farm he did until the day he left this world. Duane started Farming in 1956 at the age of 14, when he initiated a sharecrop idea with a neighbor and made as much money in that year with one cotton crop as the U.S National average annual salary. Thus began a lifetime of planning for the next crop. He was discussing which fields he wanted to plant in the new year until the day he left this world. Duane attended Mesa High School, Class of 1960 in Mesa Arizona. He began relationships with farmers across the Southwest U.S., farming as far as South Texas for the King Ranch and Northern California for the J.G. Boswell Corporation well into the 21st century. He moved to Blythe, California in 1968 and resided there until his death. He formed a business partnership with his childhood friend Euell Barnes, and his first wife Ressa (Sawyer) Berger forming Barnes and Berger Farms (www.barnesandberger.com) in 1972. Duane served as a board member of the CALCOT organization for over 30 years, as well as serving as a 30+ year board member of Palo Verde Irrigation District in Blythe, California at the time of his death.

Duane joins his deceased 2nd wife Louise (Wilson) Berger (whom he lovingly referred to as “Sugar”) in the great big farmland in the sky. They are probably standing behind a stack of hay bales kissing as you read this.