Aug. 15, 1922 – Sept. 21, 2015

Daisy Birgit Lindberg of Glendale passed away Sept. 21 at the age of 93. She was born Aug. 15, 1922 in Los Angeles to Charles and Anna Johnson, both of Swedish descent.

Her father was an amateur wrestler in the New England area. He competed in the 1920 Olympics held in Antwerp, Netherlands and won the bronze in the middleweight (158#) class. While attending a wrestling match in Los Angeles in 1920 he decided to leave the Boston area and brought his wife to sunny California in 1921.

They bought a house on Exposition Boulevard where Birgit was born. Her brother Ralph was born a year later (now deceased). She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Erik; grandchildren Jennifer Oesterreich of Big Bear City; Erik Oesterreich of Sun Valley, California; Christopher Oesterreich and wife Krista of Wildomar, California; and great-grandchildren Andrew, Benjamin, Aubrey and Savannah. Her two daughters preceded her in death, Ingrid in 2006 and Christina in 2013.

Birgit graduated with the Dorsey High School Class of 1940. She worked as a secretary for a couple of years before she obtained a position in the script department at the Lowe’s/MGM Pictures in Culver City in 1943. In 1947 she elected to move to 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, also in the script department, where she enjoyed taking shorthand from writers and then clean typing for processing. She worked there until August 1951 when she joined her husband Erik who was in the U.S. Army stationed on the East Coast.

When her husband was called overseas to the Far East Command in January 1952 she went back to 20th Century Fox in February and stayed there until their first child Christina was born in late 1953. A second daughter, Ingrid, was born 1959.

Birgit liked to dance and during the war years she used to go to the U.S.O. Canteen (United Service Organization) in Hollywood where the G.I.s of that time found their “home away from home.” She was a part of the Swedish Folkdance group for many years and traveled with them to perform in Sweden. In her later years, she enjoyed looking and listening to reruns of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra.

She was very active in her community and was a member of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority and Women’s Committee of the Glendale Symphony Orchestra Association. Also a member of North Star Lodge No. 106 Vasa Order of America, the Swedish-American Woman’s Club, she was their president for several years. She belonged to the Swedish Club of Los Angeles and served as president in 2008-09.

Birgit was an accomplished painter on wood, canvas and porcelain and practiced the Norwegian style “rosemaling” to some extent.

Together with her husband they traveled to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Canada, Western United States and, of course, a dozen or so times to Sweden.

She was a dedicated wife, mother, grandma and great-grandmother. Her warmth and loving spirit will forever be in our hearts.