Berger H. Carlson ’43

Berger H. Carlson ’43 died September 14, 2015. He grew up in Concord, New Hampshire, and graduated from Concord High School where he was a member of the National Honor Society and the dramatics club, worked on the school paper and yearbook and played varsity hockey, football (co-captain his senior year) and tennis. At Dartmouth Berge was a member of Phi Kappa Psi and Alpha Kappa Kappa and played football. After graduation he stayed on in Hanover to attend Dartmouth Medical School, completing his M.D. at Northwestern University in 1945. After a two-year internship at Cook County Hospital, Berge spent two years in the Navy. His almost continuous sea duty gave him a chance to perform a half dozen appendectomies under various challenging conditions. Following the war, Berge spent 1948 to 1952 as a surgical resident at Cook County Hospital, a period that included a fellowship with the American Cancer Society in breast surgery. The next 42 years were spent as a solo surgeon on the staff of the Concord Hospital, where Berge was president of the medical staff. During his surgical career he performed the first pneumonectomy for cancer and the first successful repair of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm done at the Concord Hospital. Berge married Marilyn Ramsdell in 1959. Berge retired in 1993 and became active in the management of Carlson Motor Sales, founded by his father. Berge was predeceased by daughter Jill. He is survived by Marilyn and children David, Kent, Linda (and husband Tom) and Holly (and husband Tony) and five grandchildren.