Kathie Berg Obituary

Kathie Berg
September 5, 1947 - July 18, 2023
Kathie Berg died at home with her husband of 48 years, Michael, and their only child, Ashley, at her bedside. Kathie was born in Chicago, Illinois where her father was finishing up his psychiatric training at Michael Reese Hospital. The trajectory of her life changed in 1953 during the Korean War when her father was called to San Francisco by the Navy. Work at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland landed the family in the East Bay where they moved to Berkeley in 1955.
Kathie attended Berkeley schools, graduating from Berkeley High in 1965. She was a free spirit who embodied her Berkeley roots. In her teen years, she went door to door in support of the city's 1963 Fair Housing campaign. Her taste in music revolved around the folk music pantheon, her taste in books was literary, and she was known to take her younger sister by seven years to European art films, Free Speech demonstrations, anti-war marches, and one in solidarity for striking French workers. Upon witnessing police hostilities, Kathie returned home and reported this to her father, who, at the time, was president of Berkeley branch of the ACLU.
For college, Kathie chose the University of Oregon, but after two years took time off. In 1967 she traveled to Israel where she participated in an ulpan, a work/study program, on Kibbutz Ma'ayan Tzvi. Her arrival coincided with the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War. Kathie recalled that the ebullient spirit in the country at that time was tempered by the solemn mood of the kibbutzniks among whom she lived, most of whom were Holocaust survivors. Kathie finished her year abroad traveling through Turkey and Europe before returning home to finish college at San Francisco State with a degree in English literature.
Kathie met Michael Dolan when he answered an ad for a roommate in a shared rental in San Francisco. When he came for the interview one of the roommates called up for Kathie to meet the potential new roommate. She came to the top of the stairs, looked down at Mike, "He looks okay to me," she said before returning to what she'd been doing. Soon after they were a couple and were married in 1975.
After earning her teaching credential from U.C. Berkeley in 1973, Kathie taught English, jewelry making, and other arts and crafts at James Logan High School in Union City.
One year, Kathie entered the work of her jewelry class in the Alameda County Fair. They won a blue ribbon for the excellence of their craftsmanship. After the birth of her daughter, Ashley, in 1980, with Michael's encouragement, Kathie changed careers and became a real estate agent in 1982. She soon became an owner of the original Marvin Gardens on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. She spent most of her 40-year-career there, until her move to Zip Code East Bay, whose founder was one of the nearly dozen agents Kathie had mentored over the years.
Kathie loved her work and gave generously of her time to her clients and to mentoring new agents. For Kathie it was personal. Always a teacher, she made sure her clients understood every step of the process. She loved working with first time buyers, one of whom described her experience working with Kathie: "Growing up in a low income household in the Bay Area, I never thought it would be possible for me to own a house here. I was very pregnant with my second son when we fell in love with a house on Dwight Way in Berkeley. The house needed some work and Kathie lent us money to fix the roof. She was determined to help us find our dream home in time for Sebastian's birth." Kathie's clients continued to work with her throughout the years as their housing needs changed. Many became dear friends, and because she made it look so fun, some were influenced to become real estate agents themselves. One of the agents she mentored described Kathie as "always cool under pressure, always there for her clients, and her word was bond."
Creative and artistic, Kathie's talents included drawing, painting, jewelry making, and art photography. In addition to Michael, Kathie was devoted to their daughter, Ashley, and her four grandsons--two sets of twins!
Predeceased by her father Irving in 1998 and her mother Harriet in 2020, Kathie will be forever missed by her husband Mike, her daughter Ashley (Adam), and her four grandsons, Wolf, Liam, Hudson, and Francis; her sister Amy (Hugh), brother David; many beloved nieces, nephews and close friends.
A memorial is planned for August 31, 2023 at 6:PM in the Brazilian Room in Tilden Regional Park.