BROOKFIELD, WI (WTMJ/CNN) - The Bergers laughed with their son as they sang "Happy Birthday" to him over the phone on his 44th birthday on Sunday. Steve Berger and his friends were in Las Vegas to celebrate.
It was the last time they would talk to him. His birthday was the same day as the Las Vegas massacre, and he was one of its victims.
"He was the best type of son you'd ever want to have," his father, Dick Berger said.
The Bergers said their son Steve was a hardworking financial advisor, but an easygoing guy that got along with everyone.
"He would help anybody. He was always ... he would walk into the room and light up," mother Mary Berger said.
Steve Berger's best friend broke the news to his parents.
"I picked up the phone at 4 in the morning, Monday morning, and Josh said, 'I'm sorry tell you, your son was shot,'" Dick Berger said.
"Josh said when they left, they're running, they're trying to get out of there and bodies are everywhere," Mary Berger said.
"Carnage, we're just devastated, just devastated about the whole thing," Dick Berger said.
The news coverage has been just too much for them.
"All they've kept playing is the 'pop pop pop pop,' and it just brought, where is my son? First time, and that was enough, and just thinking our son is down on the ground with a bullet hole," Dick Berger said.
The Bergers had hoped for the best when they hadn't heard from their son after the shooting but Tuesday afternoon got word he died.
"You got to pinch yourself and say, 'Did this really happen?'" Dick Berger said.
"I just feel empty now. I don't know. I got up this morning, and I just felt numb all over. I mean, you always think, your kids are going to bury you," Mary Berger said.
"Yeah, that's the thing. We have to bury our son," Dick Berger said.
The Bergers also have to figure out how to raise Steve Berger's three children. He was a single father.
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