Priest remembered for humor, love of Mass, and rural ministry
April 17, 2025
Father Michael Berner, who spent most of his years of service caring for the faithful in rural parishes, died April 11.
Born in 1960, he attended St. Albert Catholic High School, Creighton University in Omaha, and earned his master’s in divinity at Moreau Seminary at Notre Dame University.
Friends since they were six years old, Matt O’Neill described Father Berner as “one of a kind.”
Father Berner was a lot of fun, and “did a lot of good that people don’t even realize,” O’Neill said. “He was under the radar.”
Asked why he was drawn to the priesthood, O’Neill said his friend was influenced by the late Msgr. Thomas Costin, former pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Council Bluffs and Msgr. Stephen Orr, when he served at St. Albert School.
Father Berner was ordained in 1986.
Father Berner will be remembered as a kind of unofficial historian of the Diocese known for sharing humorous stories.
“He was always sharing those stories and it added a dimension to our time together as seminarians,” said Father Tom Dooley, pastor of St Joseph Parish in Winterset. “It was fun. Now, maybe he’ll be considered one of the characters of our Diocese.”
He’ll also be remembered for his loyalty, both to his alma mater, his parishioners, and to God.
“One thing was his love for all things Notre Dame, from his license plate to the color of his vehicles,” said Father Dooley. “I think also, as a priest, he dedicated himself to Christ and he dedicated himself to the people he served.”
“He loved the Catholic Church,” O’Neill said. “He loved the daily Mass in the morning.”
Father Berner will also be remembered for his sarcasm and for being down to earth.
“The people who knew him, from his classmates and high school, know he was very witty, sarcastic, and as common as an old shoe,” O’Neill said. “What you saw is what you got. He told you what he felt.”
Father Berner would buy things for his nieces and nephews from Publishers Clearing House. One day in 1998, he called O’Neill and said he’d won the $1 million sweepstakes.
“Prove it,” O’Neill said, and Father Berner put celebrity Joan Lunden on the phone. She was there at St. Joseph Parish in Earling when TV cameras were rolling and he was given the news.
Father Berner took the newly ordained Father Trevor Chicoine under his wing, leaving Father Chicoine grateful.
“Father was very kind to me as a young priest and new pastor and always was ready with a word of advice,” said Father Chicoine. “He enjoyed a good filet with fellow priests while regaling his younger brothers with the stories of our forebearers in the diocesan presbyterate to much hilarity. I suppose now he transitions from the source of our stories to the subject of them for the next generation. May God be good to him.”
Most of Father Berner’s years of ordained ministry were in rural communities.
Father Berner served at the following parishes: Holy Spirit in Creston, St. Edward in Afton, St. Patrick in Lenox, St. Anthony in Des Moines, Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart in Ankeny, St. Patrick in Audubon, Holy Trinity in Exira, St. Joseph in Earling, St. Peter in Defiance, St. Anne in Logan, Holy Family in Mondamin, St. Patrick in Missouri Valley, Corpus Christi in Council Bluffs, Ss. Peter & Paul in Atlantic, St. Mary in Anita, Our Lady of Grace in Griswold, and St. Timothy in Reno/Cumberland.
He retired in 2023.
A prayer service will April 22 at 6 p.m. followed by visitation until 8 p.m. at St. Patrick Church in Council Bluffs. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated April 23 at 11 a.m., also at St. Patrick Church. Father Berner will be buried at St. Joseph Cemetery in Council Bluffs.