Shirley was born Oct. 28, 1941 to Emil and Albina (Stroh) Forsch in Burke, South Dakota. She was the 7th born of 13 children in the family. She was raised on the family farm, south of Burke, near Jamison, Neb. She grew up going to country school, just over the hill from the farm. She always took pride in the fact that she attended all eight years, being the only student in her grade for each of those years. She would joke that she would always have to know the answers to all of the questions. She attended Burke High School, graduating in 1959. She then attended hair styling school in Sioux Falls with her sister Bonnie. They both graduated and obtained jobs in Minneapolis.
Shirley was married to Douglas Mathison and started her family. To that marriage, two children were born: Perry Douglas and Wendy Lee. They lived for a time in South Minneapolis and eventually moved to Elk River, Minn. Shirley worked for the Lutheran Church as the church secretary. She then began working with the Sherburne County Sheriffs Office as the head record keeper. Her services included the assisting in serving court issued detention orders for any female. From this job, it grew to the point that she was sent the Minnesota State Law Enforcement School in Arden Hills, Minn. She was very proud of her achievement there, a was her father Emil, of becoming a licensed Law Enforcement Officer. She continued working in the office as a record keeper, but also had the opportunity to occasionally work in the field. She worked for the Sherburne County Sheriffs Office for almost ten years.
Shirley and Douglas were divorced in 1983. She met and married Richard Berg on March 7, 1983. They lived in Elk River and Monticello, Minnesota until Richard’s retirement from the Minnesota State Patrol in 1999. they moved to Burke, South Dakota and have resided there ever since.
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