Celebrating Ione Berg's Legacy
The former employee was a champion of the Culinary Arts program
Ione Berg, former FVTC employee and the namesake behind Ione’s Dining Room has died.
In 1988, Ione started as a part-time employee in the kitchen at FVTC. From washing dishes to cooking, serving and running the college’s deli, Ione worked at the college for 14 years. As she retired in 2002, she donated $50,000 to help the college launch a student-run restaurant.
"Ione Berg was a salt-of-the-earth person," says Culinary Arts instructor Jeff Igel. "She had a generous heart and a humble spirit. She lived her life putting others first and made the world a better place."
Ione's Dining Room is run by students enrolled in Restaurant Operations, a capstone course in the associate degree Culinary Arts program. Guests come from all over the community and often make reservations months in advance for the chance to have lunch or dinner at the restaurant.
“Ione’s generous contributions and support of Ione’s has helped create an amazing student experience,” says Trent Sorensen, associate dean of Service. “It is also one of the more hidden gems of dining in the Fox Cities area. I appreciate her generosity and dedication to student learning within the Culinary Arts program at FVTC.”
In addition to Ione’s Dining Room, the Ione & Vincent Berg Family Scholarship was established in 2003. Since then, there have been 57 scholarship recipients, totaling more than $19,000. Many students have written notes of thanks for the financial assistance, including recent recipient Logan Barber who wrote, “I have chosen this field because ever since a young age, I have always wanted to be a baker. I got interested in baking when I would bake with my grandma and one day I would like to open a bakery somewhere here in Wisconsin.”
Ione and her husband Vincent continued to visit her namesake restaurant through the years, most recently dining and meeting students in the spring of 2023.
"Ione's time at FVTC was devoted to serving others, and she continued to do so in her retirement,” says Becky Boulanger, executive director of FVTC Foundation and Community & Legislative Relations. “We are proud her legacy will live on at FVTC through the restaurant that bears her name and in the lives of the many students who benefited from the scholarships she and Vincent have supported."