Ret. CMSgt Ralph Bergsieker Obituary

Funeral services for Ret. CMSgt Ralph F. Bergsieker, 79, of Portales will be held at 10:00 AM, Mon., Feb. 23, 2026, in the Wheeler Mortuary Chapel.  Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Eddy Wilhoit, Kendall Levacy, Scott Bjorkquist, Scott Johnson, Mark McDonald, Jr. and Brandon Dorrance serving as pallbearers.  Military honors will be rendered by American Legion Post #31.

Ralph Fredrick Bergsieker was born Dec. 3, 1946, in Higginsville, MO to the home of Anna Elizabeth (Fasse) and Ernst Fritz Bergsieker and passed from this life on Feb. 14, 2026, in Portales, NM.  Mr. Bergsieker grew up on a Missouri farm and graduated from Higginsville High School in 1964.  Following graduation, he worked for a year at a local service station where he did mechanic work.  Because it was during the Viet Nam War, rather than be drafted into the US Army, he opted to enlist in the Air Force in 1966.  Mr. Bergsieker served as a mechanic in the Air Force for 30 years, retiring in 1996.  During that time, he had been stationed at Bien Hoa Air Force Base in Vietnam, as well as Turkey and Korea, along with several in the US.  He always requested to be reassigned to Cannon Air Force Base and was able to spend the majority of his enlistment there.

It was while stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, he met Joy Grisham.  They were married in Portales on Dec. 23, 1967.  Following his retirement from the Air Force, he continued to work on the base as the head mechanic at the base bowling alley and also worked in transit servicing the planes.  He continued working there until 2020 when his wife became ill, and he retired to care for her.

Mrs. Bergsieker was a devoted fan of Elvis Presley.  Consequently, in their travels they had visited Graceland and attended the Grand Ol’ Opry.  For his own enjoyment, Mr. Bergsieker was an accomplished bowler, and a member of the base bowling league.  Through the years he had traveled to several locations to participate in bowling tournaments.  He also enjoyed gardening and kept livestock.

He is survived by three sons and two daughters-in-law, Tracy and Charla Bergsieker and Randy Bergsieker of Portales and Ricky and Sue Bergsieker of Grimes, IA; seven grandchildren, Kandace and Steven Cobbinah-Smith, Cayla and Brandon Dorrance, Leven and Kendall Levacy, Jasmine and Philip Vohwinkle, Dylan Robinson, Brett and Lindsay Bjorkquist and Scott and Elyse Bjorkquist and 14 great-grandchildren; and a brother, Bobby Bergsieker of Higginsville, MO.  He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother Wayne Bergsieker in 2025, and by his wife, Joy, who passed away Mar. 3, 2021, after more than 53 years of marriage.