Shirley Bergen

September 6, 1932 – December 9, 2020

Shirley Jean Bergen, 88, died in hospice care on December 9, 2020. Shirley grew up speaking English and Norwegian on a small dairy farm near Iola, Wisconsin. She and her brothers (Kenneth Jr. and Russell Bergen) could boast of walking through snowdrifts to their one-room schoolhouse, where Shirley graduated as class valedictorian. After high school, Shirley worked for two years at a bank in Iola, saving money to attend River Falls State Teachers College. After two years, she married Wayne Otto and had two children, Lewis and Eleni (Lewis died at birth). Shirley worked as a typist at UW-Madison to help support the family, while Wayne Otto worked towards his PhD in Education. After stints on both U.S. coasts, they returned to Madison, where Shirley was invited to work as an executive secretary at the University of Wisconsin Press, putting her legendary 160 wpm with perfect spelling and grammar to use at The Press for the next 30 years. By 1978, Shirley was newly single and led a creative life during the second feminist wave. She travelled to China twice, assisted backstage at the Madison Theater Guild, and sewed creative ensembles ‘on the side’ for boutiques on State Street. Shirley’s creativity and love of sewing and fashion inspired her to design and make clothing and led to a side gig selling windsocks, flags, and doll clothing at craft events. Shirley always found time to drive “up north” to see relatives. Her second marriage in 1988 was to Allen Fitchen (former director of the UW Press, 1982 – 1998, d. 2009). They enjoyed traveling the Blue Highways of America and were avid birdwatchers. Their travels expanded to Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, and France. Shirley remained fiercely independent throughout the last decade of her life, moving out of her home near Hilldale to the Middleton Glen retirement community. She enjoyed walking over to visit the friendly staff at the nearby Craftsman Table and Tap. Her niece, Denise Bergen, provided love, care and unending assistance to Shirley, who died under the care and watch of Agrace Hospice and Heritage Monona staff – a thank you goes out to every person who helped Shirley!

Shirley is survived by her daughter Eleni Otto and husband Greg Arnold (Corrales, NM). Other surviving relatives include her nieces and nephew in Wisconsin: Denise Bergen, Daryl Bergen, Diane Bergen, and Debra Overbye, and her niece and nephew in Texas:  Helen Doggett and Xenus Bergen, and other extended family members and friends.

After the pandemic, there will be a celebration of life at Northland Lutheran Church in Iola, WI.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Shirley's memory may be made to any children’s hospital.