Kenneth Grover Berry

1934 - 2023

Kenneth Grover Berry
November 28, 1934 - October 22, 2023
Kenneth Grover Berry passed away peacefully, of natural causes, on Sunday, October 22, 2023. Ken lived big, loved big, and was grateful for every moment of his full and wonderful life. He was born in San Francisco on November 28, 1934 to the late Dorothy Brown Berry and Kenneth Charles Berry. He was a lifelong San Franciscan and he took great pride in living in The City by the Bay. Ken graduated from Lowell High School in 1952 and Stanford University in 1956. He served 30 months in the U.S. Navy aboard a troop transport and destroyer in the Pacific. While home on leave, he serendipitously reconnected with Gail Garvin, who he had known at Lowell, and the rest of the story is the 62 wonderful and happy years they spent together, until her death in May 2021.
Upon graduating from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1961, Ken began a fulfilling and successful 43-year career as an Investment Counselor. He was a named partner in several investment firms and a founding partner of Berry, Hartell, Evers, and Osborne. In 1989, the firm sold its business to Northern Trust of Chicago and after four years, Ken left to become Chairman and CEO of Pillar Point Capital Management Inc. He managed that business until his retirement in 2004. Ken actively supported several charitable organizations and was a longtime Board member of St. Luke's Hospital, The Investment Council Association of America, and the California Casualty Management Company.
Ken and Gail traveled the world and they embraced every adventure. They also enjoyed many trips to Hawaii where Ken relaxed: reading novels, listening to Hawaiian music, feeling the warm trade winds, and watching the beautiful Hawaiian sunsets. But perhaps their favorite trips were with their eight grandchildren. These trips instilled a love for travel and adventure in each of them, and created close, special relationships and wonderful shared memories.
Ken was a true renaissance man. He was a history buff, an avid sports fan, and he loved and supported the arts. He throughly enjoyed his domino and bridge groups and, in his younger years, a social round of golf. Ken and Gail loved to entertain, and his idea of the perfect evening was having his dining room table fully extended and his house filled with the laughter of family and friends, good food, and never-empty wine glasses.
Ken was loyal, devoted, positive, principled, sentimental, humble, and loving beyond measure. He had a kind heart and generous spirit, and he found immense pleasure in doing things to make his loved ones' lives more enjoyable. He lived by The Golden Rule and one of the main lessons he taught his family was, "You meet the same people on the way up as on the way down". He had a great sense of humor and he loved a slightly "off-color" joke. He was an optimist and woke up every morning, ready to "take on" the day. He joyfully celebrated every milestone and was truly happy for everyone's good fortune. He loved a good cocktail party, an "honest drink", and he was both the ultimate host and guest. Friendships were very important to Ken, and he nurtured and cherished both lifetime friends and those he made along the way. Ken had an innate curiosity about everyone he met, and one of his greatest gifts was that he made whoever he was talking to feel like the most important person in the world.
Ken was a loyal member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity and a lifelong member of The Guardsmen, The San Francisco Golf Club, and The Bohemian Club, where he was Past Captain of Skiddoo Camp. He was a longtime parishioner and former Senior Warden at The Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin (where he will be interred in The Columbarium), and was a very happy resident of The San Francisco Towers, where he served on the Resident Council as Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee.
Ken was preceded in death by his wife, and the love of his life, Gail; his sister, Suzanne Berry Nauman and his brother, Carl Grover Berry.
He is survived by his children: Bliss Berry Talbott (Peter), Jeffrey Garvin Berry (Becky), and Brooke Berry Dunton (Kevin). He leaves behind his cousin, Thomas Runnels Brown (Joan), and two sisters-in-law: Linda Garvin Hanley (Tony) and Linden Hanger Berry. He will be missed by eight grandchildren, who he treasured and admired, and nine great-grandchildren, who brought him great joy. He is also survived by loving nieces and nephews who felt blessed to call him Uncle Ken, and many wonderful friends who he treasured dearly.
In lieu of flowers, please join us in raising a toast to celebrate Ken and a life very well-lived. He made a difference in the lives of many, and we are all blessed to have been loved by him. A celebration of both Gail and Ken's lives will be held on Sunday, November 19 at 2:00pm at The Bohemian Club, 624 Taylor St., San Francisco. All who loved Gail and Ken are welcome.