March 9, 1930 – February 27, 2018
Alma, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister-in-law, cousin and friend died after several years of declining health. She will always be remembered for the devotion she had to her family, her passion for the theater, art, fashion, classical music and Jewish rituals.
She grew up in the Bronx, New York attended Evander Childs High School and then graduated from New York University with a Business Degree in Retailing. Alma began her career in retail at Macy’s and then worked as an assistant buyer at Bloomingdale’s before taking on an admin position with Charles of the Ritz. On December 11, 1955 she married Irwin. She was a stay-at-home mother during her years in New City, NY and after moving to Brentwood, TN in 1979, she became a docent at the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art. Alma also volunteered at the Tennessee State Museum restoring artifacts and at the Carl Van Vechten Gallery at Fisk University. She and Irwin then retired to Palm Beach Gardens, FL in 1998 where they enjoyed continuing education opportunities and frequent visits to see their family and grandchildren.
She is survived by her spouse of 62 years, Irwin L. Berger; daughter Brett and her partner Roy Katzenberg (London, England); and son Todd and daughter-in-law, Tracy (Cary, NC), grandsons Travis (Honolulu, HI) and Tyler (Austin, TX); brother-in-law and sister-in-law Ted and Ellen Berger; niece, Holly Karetsky and her husband Gary, and their sons Ryan, Zachary and Daniel.
In lieu of flowers, kindly send donations to the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program at the Duke Cancer Institute. Please write “In memory of Alma Berger” on the memo line and mail checks to: Duke Office of Development c/o Sara Wajda, 710 W Main Street, Suite 200, Durham, NC 27701.
A graveside service will be held at Cedar Park Cemetery, 735 Forest Avenue, Paramus, NJ 07652 on Sunday, March 4th at 10:30 a.m.
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