To view the flowers from Cookie Berning's service, access: Cookie Berning Flower Pictures

Mary Ellen "Cookie" Berning , 86, of Minot and Lake Metigoshe, died peacefully on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, in a Minot care facility.

Mary Ellen "Cookie" (Okerstrom) Berning was born on June 8, 1938, in Duluth, Minnesota to Thurston ("Okie") and Dorothy (Lindahl) Okerstrom. She was raised and educated in St. Joseph, Missouri, where she graduated from Central High School in 1956. Although she spent and enjoyed her senior year in high school at Fargo High School, in Fargo, ND, she loved her St. Joseph Central High School friends so much, she transferred back on the last day of her senior year to graduate with them. She attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota for one year, but soon transferred to the University of North Dakota, where she loved being a Kappa Alpha Theta and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. Before settling down to teach, she became a stewardess for Northwest Orient Airlines in 1960, stationed in Spokane, Washington. Her career there lasted just six months due to a strike, but it both shaped her life and added many stories to it. She did not return when Northwest called her back in 1961 for a position in Seattle, as she had met her future husband, Wallace D. (Wally) Berning, who was also stationed in Spokane, in the US Air Force.

Cookie Okerstrom and Wally Berning married on August 5, 1961, at Elim Lutheran Church in Fargo, ND. (From that point on, she mostly signed her name as "C Berning," realizing her name was now "cookie burning!") After two more years in Spokane, Wally was stationed at Minot Air Force Base. They made Minot their home, with summer months at Lake Metigoshe, for the remainder of their lives. Cookie continued her career as an elementary teacher in the Minot Public School (MPS) system. She taught first at Dakota Elementary but spent nearly all of her career at Washington Elementary, where she made many lifelong friends, taught hundreds of local third (and a few second) graders, and mentored many student teachers. She retired from MPS in 1997 after 34 years. Any former students reading this should know she cared deeply about each of you and LOVED running into so many of you over the years, often later adding your success must be due to your third grade teacher!

Cookie was very active in her local and state communities. She supported the Republican party's 41st District (1970s), served on the North Dakota State Council on the Arts (1980's), was past President of the Minot Women's Symphony League (1989), and was on the Minot State University's Board of Regents (early 2000s). She was a volunteer for many events around town, such as the Grape Getaway, Les Soupes, The Great Tomato Festival, and so many others. Much of her informal service came by supporting Wally in his career, becoming excellent at organizing election campaigns, and most notably, hosting amazing parties, both public and private, in Minot and at Lake Metigoshe. She loved all things Christmas and was so proud when her local decorating was once featured in the Minot Daily News! Cookie was active in her churches, first Augustana Lutheran and later, Bethany Lutheran.

Cookie was fun (a little mischievous), disarmingly smart, and a friend to many. We know her fun/mischievous streak started at least in high school, where she was known for being "whip smart...but a little dingy!" Her love of fun is responsible for her short time as a Concordia Cobber, but a letter from her UND education dean shows she was #9 in a class of 531!  She dropped trays of food on Northwest Orient passengers (some famous!) but has letters of commendation for her excellent customer service! She carried her fun/mischievous trait with her throughout her life, often doing things that started with, "don't tell Wally (your dad or grandpa)!" and later with, "don't tell my kids!" Some of Cookie's best times were with lifelong friends, including many elementary and high school friends from St. Joe, cherished Green Valley neighborhood friends (oh, so much fun!), and with The Blue Rider Girls, with whom she laughed, cried, and drank wine every Tuesday afternoon for nearly 30 years at the Blue Rider Bar in Minot. She loved her time at the lake, especially with her young grandsons and their cousins. She hosted many pontoon rides/parties and impromptu happy hours on the deck with dear neighbors and friends. In her later years, she was a regular at Spicy Pie in Minot, where the younger crowd shared gossip and laughs with her, while also lovingly watching over her. She made many new and renewed friendships during her time at Somerset Court, loving the social life there! In short, Cookie was always up for a fun time!

Being an only child, family meant everything to Cookie. She was very close to her parents, loving to share she never once missed a Christmas with them. From them, she also inherited a love of her Swedish heritage, a fact she especially loved when settling in Minot, a town of so many Norwegians! She was most proud of her grandsons and step-grandsons and the fine men they became. She loved her children and their spouses. They are all left with a hole in their hearts, but with many smiles, life lessons and wonderful memories.

Cookie's loving family includes: her children, Todd (Carolyn) Berning of West Fargo and Shaun Ellen (Richard) Gleason of Denver, Colorado; grandchildren: Landen Berning of Saint Louis Park, MN, Keenen Berning of Fargo; step grandchildren: Trayton Molland of Minneapolis and Brandon (Michelle) Molland of Phoenix; many cousins in the Duluth MN/Superior WI area;  nieces: Michele Hudson Rothe of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Melinda Shepard Wamsher and Allison Butts of Kansas City, nephew: John Hudson of Kansas City, and several great nieces and nephews.

Cookie was preceded in death by her husband, Wallace D. Berning, her parents, and dear cousin, Anne Marie Johnson of Superior, Wisconsin.

Visitation: Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, from 3 to 6 pm at Thomas Family Funeral Home.
Funeral Service: Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, at 11:00 am at Bethany Lutheran Church, Minot.  To view a livestream of the service, access: https://bethanylutheranchurch58701.com/livestream/
Interment will be at Rosehill Memorial Park, Minot.
Memorials can be made to the Minot Public School Foundation or the Wallace D. Berning Scholarship Endowment at Minot State University.