Diane Berven, of Milan, died peacefully at her home on Sunday, July 24, 2016 at the age of 77.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, July 28, 2016 at 1:00 PM at Big Bend Lutheran Church. Rev. Doris Weber will officiate and interment will be in the church cemetery.
A visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 from 5-7:00 PM at the church with a prayer service starting 6:30 PM. Visitation will continue one hour before services on Thursday.
Diane LaVon (Kanten) Berven was born in Montevideo, MN on December 20, 1938 to Melvin and LoVina (Gilsrud) Kanten. She was baptized and confirmed at Big Bend Lutheran Church and grew up in the Milan, MN area graduating from high school in 1957. On May 7, 1960, Diane was united in marriage to David Berven at Big Bend Lutheran Church. Together they raised three children and worked on their farm.
Diane had many different jobs but mostly worked as a beauty consultant for Avon and as a dispatcher for Prairie Five Rides for many years. Diane took great pride in her yard and worked hard to keep it looking nice. She loved to mow the lawn, watch the baby calves, and spent a lot of time in the garden. As a farm wife, Diane was elected to drive the tractor when they would bale hay and it has been said that “the gloves went flying” because she popped the clutch and took off a little too quickly. Later in life, she graduated from driving tractor to driving around on her golf cart with her grandkids.
She loved decorating for every season, especially Christmas. She enjoyed cooking lefse, lutefisk, and canning things from her garden. As she got older, Diane liked coloring books and she was always doodling on something and watching the traffic and trucks hauling by the house knowing that most of them were driving faster than the posted speed limit. Diane loved music of all kinds but she had the time of her life at an AC/DC concert her children had taken her to.
Diane is survived by her husband, David; her children: Brad (Patty) Berven of Pierre, SD, Laurie (Peter) Lyngen of Milan, and Michael Berven of Milan; 9 grandchildren: Justine (Dustin) Drew, Kyle Berven (Whitney Robbennolt), Jordan Lyngen, Paige Lyngen, Bekka Berven, Haakon Berven, Kade Berven, Sutton Berven, and Keith Berven; 5 great-grandchildren: Bentley, Ember, Avery, Kayden, and Parker; sisters: Jeanne (Don) Gabbert and Cheri (Neil) Dvorak, a brother, Michael (Twyla) Kanten; a sister-in-law, Beatrice Olson; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
Preceding her in death are her parents; her parents-in-law, Alice and Oscar Berven; a brother-in-law, Jim Berven; sisters-in-law, Bev Berven and Shirley Berven; and a brother-in-law, Dennis Olson.