Rita Bergner Terry
Rita Bergner Terry of Columbia died Dec. 25, 2010. She was 68.
Ms. Terry was born in Madison, Wis., on April 22, 1942, and lived briefly in Boston during World War II while her father served in the Navy. She moved to Arlington, Va., with her family after the war, and there she graduated from Wakefield High School in 1959. She attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., and worked for the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., after graduating.
Ms. Terry moved to Missouri when her husband received a faculty appointment at MU.
In Columbia, she worked as a writer, editor and librarian for the Climate Applications Branch of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for 17 years. During that time, she received her master's degree in library science from the MU. She later worked at University Hospital as an editor and completed her professional career at the Truman Veterans Hospital.
After retiring, Ms. Terry stayed active by volunteering at the Missouri State Historical Society and the Central Missouri Humane Society and by participating in different functions at Midway Locust Grove Methodist Church.
She worked with the United Methodist Women organization through the church by helping with fundraisers and singing in the choir.
"She was very good with helping with just anything we had to do," her friend Margorie McFann said.
McFann said Ms. Terry brought homemade bread and cross-stitching for the church bazaar, which was held every year to raise money for different missions projects.
"She was very passionate about singing and choir," McFann said.
She is survived by her daughter, Lynne Hooper of Hartsburg.
Condolences may be left at www.parkerfuneralservice.com
