* Calvin C. Berger; Retired Salesman

Ventura resident Calvin C. Berger died Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 71.

Berger was born May 1, 1927, in Vanoss, Okla. He and his wife, Cleva, moved to Ventura in 1952.

Berger had been a salesman at Lagomarsino’s Wholesale Liquors for 28 years, before retiring in 1988. He was a member of the Ventura Elks Lodge, the Poinsettia Lodge and Ventura Oddfellows.

He was Scout master of a local Boy Scout troop and coached and managed Little League baseball teams while his son was growing up.

“As a child he suffered from polio; he had major corrections to his legs,” said his son, Robert Berger of Center Line, Mich. “But, he led Boy Scouts on these five-mile hikes, and he always had the biggest pack of anyone.”

Berger won frequent trips abroad based on his sales at Lagomarsino, and visited Mexico City, the Bahamas, Australia, New Zealand and Scandinavia.

“He loved Ventura so much,” Cleva Berger said. “We’d get back home from a trip, and he’d say, ‘Wee! We’re home. I’m glad.’ ”

In addition to his wife and son, Berger is survived by sisters Christine Dacon and Wilma Foster, both of Oklahoma City, and Anna Belle Phillips of Cleveland, Okla.; and grandson Charles Edward Berger of Center Line, Mich.

There will be no services at Berger’s request. Joseph Reardon Funeral Home in Ventura is handling the arrangements.