Clyde P. Berryman

Clyde P. Berryman, 69, (1954 - 2023) passed away on December 31, 2023, at Sentara Heart Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia. Born in New York City to an American father and a French mother, he grew up in Sumatra, Indonesia and Tripoli, Libya. Clyde was a well-traveled historian, collector, and sports enthusiast. He enjoyed listening to classical music and opera and was a voracious reader of books on naval history and Formula 1 motor racing. His interest in Formula 1 started in Tripoli when he was quite young. Years later in 1969, a race-happy uncle took him to see a Formula 2 race in Albi, France and the following year he went with his parents to the F1 Dutch Grand Prix. It was clear that F1 was going to be a big part of his life. Over the next four decades, he was able to attend over twenty Formula 1 Grand Prix races! After Tripoli, Clyde graduated from the Admiral Farragut Academy in New Jersey, the University of Alabama and the University of Paris 1 (Pantheon - Sorbonne). He worked briefly in shipping in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia before embarking on a career as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. He met Gulay, his artist-wife and lifelong fellow adventurer, during his first overseas assignment to Ankara, Turkey. They attended the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco two years in succession, 1982 and 1983, which both turned out to be phenomenally exciting races. His thought was that if Gulay did not care for F1 racing in a location like Monaco, then he was in trouble. Fortunately, they were able to work in a Grand Prix race into a number of holidays which also included local tourism, museum visits, or time at the beach. Gulay has periodically used her immense artistic talents to depict motor-racing subjects, to Clyde's great delight. Their daughter, Ajda, through no choice of her own, attended Grand Prix races from the age of three. She must have wondered at times why her father was excitedly dragging her through yet another muddy road and up into a cold, wind-swept grandstand just to watch loud machines flash past for two long hours! Gulay and Ajda experienced it all with good grace and few complaints, from the glamour of Monaco and party-town Montreal, Canada to the torrents of rain at Spa Francorchamps, Belgium and the 'tifosi' stampede at Monza, Italy. Clyde and Gulay enjoyed a fulfilling career overseas with postings in France, Great Britain (where Ajda was born), Iceland, Mauritius, Italy and back in France before retiring in the United States. He spoke fluent French, Turkish, and Italian. In 1999-2000, Clyde published two feature articles in F1 Racing magazine which also carried his car and driver rankings. In 2021, his book, QPRS (Quality Point Racing System): F1 Grand Prix Racing by the Numbers (1950-2019), A Statistical Performance Analysis of Formula One Grand Prix Drivers and Their Cars, was published by Dalton Watson Fine Books. His other lifelong passion has been for naval & military history. He built model warship kits and read extensively on the subject while becoming absorbed in the hobby of naval & military board wargaming. He subsequently developed a keen interest in American college football - almost unavoidable when one is a student at the University of Alabama! He developed a mathematical formula method for rating team performances which he updated after the Bowl Games at the end of each season. The NCAA very graciously included his national championship selections alongside those of the AP Poll, UPI, and many more celebrated football selectors in the Polls section of the NCAA College Football Records Book at the end of each year. Upon retirement in Williamsburg, Virginia, he pursued a lifelong interest in collecting Formula 1 car models and building naval and motor-racing dioramas. He collected almost 1,000 racing car models, motor-racing and naval art paintings & prints, and ship models. In 2015, he and Gulay launched the Williamsburg Art Gallery located on Merchants Square in historic downtown Williamsburg. In 2017, the gallery was nominated Best in Virginia and one of the 25 Best Art Galleries & Museums in America by American Art Awards. He was very proud of his daughter, Ajda, who attended the American School of Paris and James Madison University. She is a marketing executive in the tech industry and her husband, Adam is a healthcare entrepreneur. They reside in New York City. He was preceded in death by his parents, James C. and Odile Berryman. He is survived by his wife, Gulay Berryman of 41 years, his daughter Ajda and son-in-law Adam, his aunt Jeanne and cousins Matthieu, Sophie, Anne, Benoit, Bruno, Marc, Olivier and their spouses in France, cousin Jim Berryman in the United States, and extended family in both countries. A service for Clyde will be held Friday, January 12, 2024 at 2:00 PM at Nelsen Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains Rd., Williamsburg, Virginia. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Opera in Williamsburg in memory of Clyde Berryman at www.operainwilliamsburg.org. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.NelsenWilliamsburg.com.