Gai Elizabeth Ingham Berlage

Gai Elizabeth Ingham Berlage, a 50 year resident of Wilton and former resident of Darien, died at her home on August 7, 2008 at the age of 65. The daughter of Paul Bowen Ingham and Grace Ford Artz Ingham, she was born in Washington, D.C. on February 9, 1943.

Dr. Berlage was acting Chairman of the Sociology Department at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York where she had taught for 37 years. In addition to numerous articles and publications, she was the author of Women in Baseball: The Forgotten History and co-author of the textbook Understanding Social Issues: Critical Thinking and Analysis, which is in its sixth edition. She was a guest on several radio and television shows and a commentator for the HBO special “Dare to Compete: The Struggle of Women in Sports.” Among her various awards, she was the recipient of the Best Professional Paper Award at the 3rd annual Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture. She was also listed in Who's Who in America.

In Wilton, Dr. Berlage served on numerous town commissions and task forces and chaired the Commission for Social Services and the Aging from 1982-1988. She was a member of the Wilton Congregational Church for 50 years, and a member of the Junior Leagues of Stamford - Norwalk and Dallas, Texas. She was an avid tennis player at both the Weston Field Club and Weston Racquet Club, and enjoyed golfing and traveling. She was a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother, who was deeply loved and admired by her family.

Dr. Berlage graduated from the Wilton High School in 1961 and, while there, won numerous science fairs. Her fruit fly exhibit, “Effects of Gibberellic Acid on Tropaeolum Minus,” was selected for the New England School Science Fair where as the only female exhibitor and she attracted attention from Boston newspapers. She was a member of the National Honor Society. She received her B.A. from Smith College in 1965, her M.A. from Southern Methodist University in 1968 and her Ph.D. from New York University in 1979.

She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Jan Coxe Berlage of Wilton, her son, Jan Ingham Berlage and his wife, Tanya of Monkton, MD; her daughter, Cari Coxe Berlage Lodge and her husband, Andrew, of Darien; and her grandchildren, William Ingham Lodge, Caitlyn Elizabeth Coxe Lodge and a third grandchild expected this month. She is also survived by her sister, Leslie Ingham Sloan of Grosse Pointe Farms, MI and formerly of Darien, and her children John Dudley Sloan III of Grosse Pointe Farms, MI; Thatcher Ingham Sloan of Washington, D.C. and Kealan Ingham Sloan of Washington, D.C.

The funeral service will be held on Friday, August 15, 2008 at 11:00AM in the Wilton Congregational Church, 70 Ridgefield Road, Wilton followed by a reception at the Country Club of Darien, 300 Mansfield Avenue, Darien. Interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Gai Ingham Berlage Scholarship, P.O. Box 7053, Wilton, CT 06897-7053, which is being established in her honor at the Wilton High School for a graduating senior interested in pursuing a bachelor's degree in Sociology.

Funeral Arrangements are under the direction of Norwalk's Hoyt-Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 5 East Wall Street. www.norwalkfh.com