Vitaly J Berkman

Vitaly J. Berkman, age 85, of Brookline, MA, passed away on Saturday, October 11th, 2025.

Vitaly was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 8th, 1940. Those who knew and loved him often joked that having been born on International Women’s Day, he was a gift to all women. After his parents, Nina Turubiner and Joseph Berkman, divorced when Vitaly was 4 years old, he was raised predominantly by his loving mother and adoring maternal grandparents, Yevgeniya and Mikhail Turubiner.

Vitaly was both a strong student and athlete while attending high school, earning some of the highest marks in his class, as well as a silver medal in the high jump first for his home city and then for all of Ukraine.

After graduating high school, Vitaly moved to Moscow to attend university, eventually earning a master’s degree in electro-mechanical engineering. Upon first arriving, he lived briefly with his father, then moved into a shared room rental in another apartment building. It was there that he met his future wife, Regina (Levina), who lived on the second floor with her family. The couple experienced love at first sight and were married only a year later. They spent the next 66 years together, an example of deep love, devotion and friendship for everyone in their orbit, and raised two daughters.

Vitaly had a successful career, both in Russia and eventually in the United States after the family immigrated to the Boston area in 1980. His first job was in a laboratory at MIT, from which he was quickly recruited into the private sector. Vitaly would eventually move from management to director roles, always respected and admired by his colleagues. Among other professional accomplishments, he oversaw the creation of new semiconductors, and the first commercial system to produce synthetic diamonds.

In addition to his work, Vitaly enjoyed traveling with Regina and their close friends, exploring the world of cars, and watching spy films. He was patient, kind, and always fastidious with any task he took on, big or small.

Vitaly is survived by his wife, Regina, their daughters Victoria Orlovsky (married to Dmitry) and Julia Berkman (married to Zachary Smith). Vitaly was an extremely proud and loving grandfather to Nicole (Orlovsky) Costolo (married to Michael) and Tim Orlovsky (married to Natalie), as well as to Kira and Anya Smith.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00pm on Friday, October 17th at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, located at 1668 Beacon Street in Brookline, MA.