Dr. Warren Berggren died peacefully in Golden, CO, surrounded by loved ones. He is survived by wife Gretchen, children Ruth Berggren and Jeannie Tanski, 2 sisters and 4 grandchildren.

Born on a Nebraska farm, he received an MD from the University of Nebraska, a PhD from Harvard and served as medical missionary to Congo. A strong proponent of health as a human right, he founded a program at Schweitzer Hospital, Haiti, that eradicated neonatal tetanus.

From 1967-1998 he was a member of the faculty at Harvard. For 10 years he was a Save the Children Health Director, also consulting for governments, USAID, UNICEF, World Relief, and the Colorado Haiti Project, in 26 countries. Warren was recognized by many governments for community health, and received lifetime awards from the University of Colorado Center for Global Health, American Public Health Assoc., President Clinton, and an International Health Award from Mother Theresa.

He held close the principle that no one, not even the poorest or most disenfranchised, be excluded from health and education services.

Warren and his wife, Gretchen, were active members of Evergreen Rotary.

Memorial services will be set for June. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Colorado Haiti Project: coloradohaitiproject.org.

Photo by Carolyn Alexander.

Longtime Evergreen resident and community leader Ted Mann died on January 18. Born in suburban Chicago, Ted graduated from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and began his career in radio advertising sales in Prescott, Arizona. He moved to Colorado in 1971 to join the staff of classical music station KVOD in Denver, where he enjoyed great success.

His love of fine wine led him to help start Plum Creek Cellars, a winery in Palisade, Colorado, where he devoted untold sweat-equity hours before acquiring Mountain Ranch Supply in 1987. He operated this feed and tack store in Kittredge until retiring in 2000.

Ted’s extensive community involvement paralleled his passion for business, horses and music. He served as president (since re-titled chairman) of the board of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, as treasurer of Arts for the Mountain Community (now Sculpture Evergreen) in its early years, and as a board member of Friends of the Evergreen Library. In addition, he started the Mountain Branch of the Jefferson County Horse Council and in recent years served as a manager of the council’s emergency evacuation team. He also spent many years as a horseback patroller for Jefferson County Open Space.

During the 1980s, his love and knowledge of classical music made him an obvious choice for the board of directors of the Colorado Philharmonic Orchestra, which is now the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge.

In 2000, he was one of a small group of organizers and a driving force behind the Evergreen Jazz Festival. He subsequently served two terms as festival president, several terms on the board of directors and also worked tirelessly on fundraising for the event. Shortly before health issues developed, Ted and Jeannie, his wife of nearly 40 years, very appropriately enjoyed a jazz cruise through the Panama Canal.

Memorial contributions may be sent to

• Evergreen Jazz Festival, PO Box 3775, Evergreen 80437
• Evergreen Animal Protective League, PO Box 2517, Evergreen 80437
• Cornell College, 600 First Street SW, Mt. Vernon. IA 52314

No services are scheduled.

(See previously written profile on Ted Mann and his wife, Jeannie Mann, by clicking here.)

Thomas Francis Sjoden died October 2, 2014 at Augustana Elk Run Assisted Living.  He had been a resident of Evergreen for 55 years. A funeral Mass was held at Christ the King Catholic Church on October 9, 2014.

JustAroundHere.com considered him an historical figure because of his being assigned to run the telephone business when Evergreen began to be a year-round community in the 1950s.  Read his story by clicking here.

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Family, friends and the community celebrated Sylvia Brockner's 95th birthday on Sunday, October 12th, at Augustana Elk Run Assisted Living.

Sylvia and Bill Brockner moved to Evergreen in 1965, and their list of community involvement as it pertains to the natural world is legendary. However, it is Sylvia's weekly column in the Canyon Courier, "Our Evergreen World," which she began in May of 1972, that has been a continuous gift for 42 years to the Evergreen community.  Her articles have been illustrated with her original drawings of birds and wildflowers found in the area.

Guests included those who said that they'd called Sylvia 25 years ago asking how to solve a Flicker problem, a family whose 3-year-old wrote 37 years ago how to get Bluebirds to come to their yard, three people who'd attended a wildflower identification class that Sylvia gave in 1979 and someone who'd heard Sylvia speak about nature to the first class of Leadership Evergreen.  

In 1968 the Brockners were founders of Evergreen Naturalists, which later evolved into Evergreen Audubon, and many birders and garden club members were there to help celebrate.

Stories were in abundance as to the many ways Sylvia has enriched the lives of those in the community through her 2,000+ newspaper columns and volunteerism by informing, educating, and inspiring.  

The party was organized by Loie Evans and Sylvia's nieces from California, Sylvia Graovac and Barbara McKee.

To read an profile on Bill and Sylvia Brockner published earlier in JustAroundHere.com, click here.