Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Berg was killed in an automobile accident at 4:45 p.m. in Portage County while transporting a prisoner to the Winnebago Mental Health Facility.
Sheriff Berg's patrol car was struck by another vehicle and he was ejected from the vehicle. The incident occurred about .75 miles west of Nelsonville, WI on County Road SS (Old Highway 10). Sheriff Berg was killed instantly.
The suspect, who was the wife of a prominent businessman in the area, was headed up north for vacation when she sped past a car on a hill and struck the Sheriff's vehicle nearly head-on. Although the suspect was charged with first-degree manslaughter, the charges were dismissed after Sheriff Berg's widow received a financial settlement and did not wish to pursue the charges.
Sheriff Berg had served with the Wood County Sheriff's Department for 24 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and six children and is buried in Wisconsin Rapids.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-WI-48313E39- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
24 years. You could have gone home.
Sheriff Berg gave the Wood County Sheriff's Department 24 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Wisconsin Rapids community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Berg.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff William Axel Berg is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In WI, 124 of 317 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 39.1% of this state's fallen. That is 8.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William Axel Berg's cause is highlighted.
How William Axel Berg Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William Axel Berg is highlighted in Jul.