From David’s father, Roger Berky:
Received word yesterday that your uncle Carl (Roger’s oldest brother) died in his sleep a week ago on May 3. His life time companion Ewald had him cremated and his ashes will be put in the Delaware River.
Memories of the Life of Carl Berky:
Just heard about the passing of my brother Carl Berky from his best friend Ewald. He passed in his sleep on May 3, 2019.
My name is Roger Berky and I am the youngest of four boys in our parents family. Some memories of Carls life that I have are in the following statements:
He provided constant piano music in our home early in the morning and late at night.
He adapted horn music for our high school quartet that we played in school and church meetings.
His high school typing class teacher could not understand why I was so poor at typing because my older brother was very good at it.
He played the piano at many school events and earnd many awards for his piano skills.
He shared an apartment with me his younger brother to help him adjust to the big city life while he was going to Business school.
He earned a master degree in music and took all the classes for a Doctor’s Degree which required the knowledge of two languages. He did not get his Doctor’s Degree because his dissertation or the music he wrote for his Doctor’s Degree was not approved because he would not make the changes that were necessary for acceptance.
He learned to play the organ and had several jobs with different churches over his adult life.
He learned to live with and love his best friend Ewald all of his adult life.
He was a kind, compassionate and caring person who shared his talent for music with others.
David: Our family had the opportunity to meet/visit with Carl and Ewald a few years ago on a trip back East to see some church historical sites. It was fun exploring Carl & Ewald’s home and seeing the many musical treasures they’d collected over the years.
We had lunch with them and enjoyed learning more about their lives and history. I hadn’t visited uncle Carl too many times in the past due to the distance and busyness of life. I remember as a child visiting once or twice.
I remember visiting when he and Ewald lived in a geodesic dome house next to a pond. The pond was formed by a family of beavers that moved in and dammed up the creek that went through the property. When they moved in the’d wanted to create a pond, but were prevented from doing so by local rules – until the beavers moved in. Since it was naturally formed, it was then allowed.
I remember going out on the pond with my brother Dan in a canoe and viewing the moss covered trees that were now submerged several feed deep. For years afterward I was also fascinated with the idea of living in a geodesic dome and developed an interest in architecture and drew many home plans (and plans for cool forts and secret bases).