Stephen Joel Berkowitz, who taught government for over thirty years at both Lodi and Tokay High School, succumbed to illness in the Lodi Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, August 12, 2009. Mr. Berkowitz was widely admired, even beloved, by both this students and his colleagues for his remarkable skill as a teacher, his dedication to his students, and unfailing kindness to all who knew him. Many of his students saw him as not only an excellent teacher but also a mentor and a friend. In his final weeks of life, Steve was in touch with students he had taught as many as forty years ago. A generous man, he contributed to a wide variety of charities from disaster relief to environmental protection.
Steve was born in Oakland, California on April 18, 1942, the only child of Samuel and Mildred Berkowitz. Mrs. Berkowitz was a talented and thoroughly trained pianist of near concert quality. She taught her son to play and instilled in him a long-life enjoyment of classical music. Steve was raised in Oakland and attended public schools there before entering UC, Berkeley in 1959 and completing his political science degree in 1963. He earned a Master's degree in 1964 at CSU Hayward and completed a secondary teaching credential in 1965.
Steve began teaching at Lodi High School in 1966 and retired from Tokay High School in 1998.
Although he was extremely impressive in his interview, both administrators and colleagues were concerned that this gentle, frail-looking man might not command the respect of boisterous teenagers. This worry was soon dispelled. Steve's heart, intellect, and determination to teach soon won the respect of his students and his colleagues. With Maryann Cox, he founded the campus Improvement Association (CIA) through which he encouraged students to accept responsibility and to look for ways of serving their community. In 1983, Steve was the first recipient of the Tokay High School Educator of the Year Award. He grew to love his adopted city, his friends and colleagues, and especially his students. For Steve, teaching was not a job; it was a calling.
Steve's long-time colleague, Jim Peck, observed, "I don't think in the 25 years I taught with him, I ever heard him raise his voice or have a bad word to say about any student or adult. School was his job, his hobby. It was his everything." Nick Perovich, whose experience as Steve's student began a 40-year friendship, commented that "his decency was, and is, contagious." Steve was an especially shrewd observer of the America political scene, who saw current events in historical context and had a keen eye for partisan humbug and sloganeering that obscured deeper issues. These he demolished in his gentle, fair-minded, but thorough manner. Perovich summed up one of Steve's essential qualities, "above all he thought the greatest gift he could give his students was to encourage them to be more reflective, unwilling to accept shallow, insubstantial reasoning, especially in public discourse."
Steve was preceded in death by his beloved parents, Samuel and Mildred.
He is survived by his cousin, Robert Cousins and Robert's wife, Anna, of Walnut Creek; their two daughters, Jennifer and Heather; and Heather's daughter, Allegra.
There will be a private interment service for Steve in Oakland for family members only. However, his friends, colleagues, and students have planned a memorial service for Steve on Saturday, August 29, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the Tokay High School Cafeteria, which is located at 1111 Century Blvd. in Lodi. The program will include video of Steve, music he loved, and eulogies and remembrances of a remarkable man. Light refreshments will be served.
If you have Steve Berkowitz memorabilia, please bring them with you to share with others who have come to celebrate his life. If you have anecdotes and memories of Steve you would like to share, write them up and email them to Sam Hatch at samhatch@sonic.net.
Instead of sending flowers, we encourage you to donate to the Stephen Berkowitz Scholarship Fund. Make checks payable to: The Stephen Berkowitz Scholarship Fund/Lodi Unified School District. Send your donations to: The Stephen Berkowitz Scholarship Fund c/o Melody Knee, Lodi Unified School District Office, 1305 E. Vine, Lodi CA 95240.
