Berman Richard

Richard Berman, aged 89, passed away on January 27, 2017. Rick was born on February 20, 1927, in Asheville, N.C., but he and his twin brother, Frank grew up in New York City. He had a rough childhood, in and out of foster homes and orphanages, before entering the Army during World War II. He served in the occupation forces in Berlin, and then combined the GI Bill with working as a square dance caller to attend the University of Denver, where he earned his degree in Electrical Engineering. Degree in hand, he got the only job he ever held or wanted, and became first an audio engineer, then Prime Audio, for the NBC television network. There he met his soon-to-be wife, Antonia Mendelson. For the next 35 years he was present at nearly every major event of the mid-20th century, including all the Gemini and Apollo launches, the Poor People's March on Washington, Winston Churchill's funeral, all of the political conventions, Macy's Parades, countless football, baseball, basketball, golf, and tennis games and championships, and many more. The techniques he developed to get every sound, from the squeak of the sneakers on the basketball court to the thump of the ball in the catcher's glove and the quarterback calling the plays, were written about in textbooks and are still used today. In between he worked on many news, game, and variety shows, from Robert Montgomery Presents and The Philco-Goodyear Playhouse, through Hullabaloo and That Was the Week that Was, to Saturday Night Live. He was working in the news studio when the first rumors of a shooting in Dallas started to come in, and was part of the team that worked there nonstop through JFK's funeral. He was present for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most famous speech. When he retired to the Charlottesville area in 1985, first in Crozet, then downtown, he didn't slow down. Among other activities, he worked with include, Recording for the Blind, 10.5 years, Board of Directors 4 years, VP 2 years, 1987-1998, C'ville Performing Arts Center, 1988-1993, C'ville Symphony Board of Directors, 1993-1999, Piedmont Council of the Arts Board of Directors, 1996-1999, Albemarle Amateur Radio Club, 1992-2013, Board of Directors 5 years, VP 2 years, C'ville Camera Club, 2005-2013, President 1 year, Rte. 250 Interchange Steering Committee, 2005-2007, McGuffey Hill HOA Board of Directors, 2004-2013, and Public Access TV, 1995-2006. Rick lost his wife of 60 years, Toni, last June, 2016. He is survived by his son, Matt; daughter, Joanna; granddaughters, Vanessa and Ariana; nieces, Kelly and Lisa; nephew, Jeff; and cousin, Gabriel. At Rick and Toni's request, there were no services, they were cremated, and their ashes were scattered together by their daughter in the Blue Ridge Mountains that they loved. We were never a demonstrative family, but we loved you, Dad. You knew that, right?