Western VP had unknown heart condition that led to her death

The vice president from Western Tech who died suddenly in Georgia last weekend apparently did not know she had a heart problem.

That’s what Western president Roger Stanford said about the unexpected death of Cherrie Bergandi.

“She had some stresses with her heart which caused the medical issue,” said Stanford, who knew Bergandi over a decade. “She was rushed from the hospital from a restaurant and then she passed. 

“None of us were aware. It was a shock to her husband and, of course, to all of us at her Western family here.”

Bergandi was 57. She had been at Western for three months.

“I worked with Cherrie for 12 years at Chippewa Valley Technical College, before she came to Western,” Stanford said on Facebook. “She was a talented leader and a close personal friend of mine. To say she will be missed is an understatement.”

Stanford says a joint memorial service involving both WTC and Bergandi’s former college, Chippewa Valley Tech, is planned at the Chippewa campus in Eau Claire, Wis., on Tuesday afternoon.