Carol Berman, former state senator, devoted mother, dies at 100
Carol Berman in 2006. Her daughter, Elizabeth Berry, said in her mother "empowered our whole family." Credit: Newsday /Thomas A. Ferrara
Carol Berman had a keen intellect, graduating early from both high school and college, and in her 100 years of life embarked on a path that led from community activism to electoral politics, serving three terms in the State Senate in the late 1970s and early '80s.
But she was also fervently committed to her family, maintaining a seven-decade marriage and nurturing two children, who eulogized her Friday as a mother who not only made great contributions to society, but who was always there for them. They recalled her serving in parent-teacher associations and on the school board, and taking her turn as a carpool driver transporting them and some classmates to school.
Berman died Tuesday at her Lawrence home after a bout with congestive heart failure, her son, Charles Berman, said during the funeral on Friday, which was livestreamed by Boulevard-Riverside Chapels in Hewlett. She had celebrated her 100th birthday Sept. 21.
Charles Berman, who lives in Roslyn Heights, said his mother was born in Brooklyn and grew up in a home where "education was stressed more than anything."
The family said Carol Berman graduated from Erasmus Hall High at age 16 and was the valedictorian of her class. She then went to the University of Michigan, focusing on journalism, her son said.
She graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of Michigan at 19, the family said. She met the man who would become her husband, Jerome Berman, at the university. Both had the surname Berman, her son said.
Charles Berman said his parents were married May 19, 1944, during a leave Jerome had while serving in the military during World War II. "They were married 76 years," Charles said. Jerome died in 2020.
The couple first moved to Lynbrook, then to Lawrence in 1956, Charles said.
Carol's daughter, Elizabeth Berry of Falls Church, Virginia, said in her mother's "century of life, she had many firsts" and "empowered our whole family." Berry noted her own career in the U.S. Foreign Service over three decades as a result of her mother's inspiration.
And she was "passionate" about government and politics and "progressive ideas and values," her son said in a brief interview Friday, noting her service in the New York State Senate from 1979 to 1984 as a Democrat.
Her political career was helped by her activism against the noise from supersonic jets landing at Kennedy Airport. She was chair of the Emergency Coalition to Stop the SST, which sought to stop the Concorde jet from using the airport. According to a news report, in May 1977, the coalition protest brought out about 1,000 cars that drove along the main airport roadway at 5 to 10 mph.
"We were the first car and I was the driver," Charles Berman, now the receiver of taxes for the Town of North Hempstead, recalled at the funeral. "And I remember thinking this might not be a good idea. She might get me arrested, and I haven't even got my first job yet," he said to laughter. "It was 1977 and I had just graduated college."
Charles said that after his mother's career in the Senate ended, she served as chairperson of the New York State Board of Elections from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. She was also a governor's appointee to the state's office of Housing and Community Renewal.
In September 2006, Berman, then 83, slipped into a platform gap at the Long Island Rail Road station in Lawrence and broke her left ankle. At the time, Newsday measured gaps as large as 11 inches at the station. Berman originally asked for $1 million in damages, but more than two years after the fall, she reached a $150,000 settlement with the LIRR, she said.
Jay Jacobs, New York State and Nassau County Democratic chairman, said in a statement: “Carol Berman paved the way for a Democratic resurgence in Nassau County at a time when no one thought it was possible. She served with distinction in the New York State Senate and was active for many years after she left that office, helping to elect other Democrats across the county. She will very much be missed.”
Besides Berman's two children, survivors include four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Burial was at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon.
Carol Berman had a keen intellect, graduating early from both high school and college, and in her 100 years of life embarked on a path that led from community activism to electoral politics, serving three terms in the State Senate in the late 1970s and early '80s.
But she was also fervently committed to her family, maintaining a seven-decade marriage and nurturing two children, who eulogized her Friday as a mother who not only made great contributions to society, but who was always there for them. They recalled her serving in parent-teacher associations and on the school board, and taking her turn as a carpool driver transporting them and some classmates to school.
Berman died Tuesday at her Lawrence home after a bout with congestive heart failure, her son, Charles Berman, said during the funeral on Friday, which was livestreamed by Boulevard-Riverside Chapels in Hewlett. She had celebrated her 100th birthday Sept. 21.
Charles Berman, who lives in Roslyn Heights, said his mother was born in Brooklyn and grew up in a home where "education was stressed more than anything."
The family said Carol Berman graduated from Erasmus Hall High at age 16 and was the valedictorian of her class. She then went to the University of Michigan, focusing on journalism, her son said.
She graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors from the University of Michigan at 19, the family said. She met the man who would become her husband, Jerome Berman, at the university. Both had the surname Berman, her son said.
Charles Berman said his parents were married May 19, 1944, during a leave Jerome had while serving in the military during World War II. "They were married 76 years," Charles said. Jerome died in 2020.
State senator from '79 to '84
The couple first moved to Lynbrook, then to Lawrence in 1956, Charles said.
Carol's daughter, Elizabeth Berry of Falls Church, Virginia, said in her mother's "century of life, she had many firsts" and "empowered our whole family." Berry noted her own career in the U.S. Foreign Service over three decades as a result of her mother's inspiration.
And she was "passionate" about government and politics and "progressive ideas and values," her son said in a brief interview Friday, noting her service in the New York State Senate from 1979 to 1984 as a Democrat.
Her political career was helped by her activism against the noise from supersonic jets landing at Kennedy Airport. She was chair of the Emergency Coalition to Stop the SST, which sought to stop the Concorde jet from using the airport. According to a news report, in May 1977, the coalition protest brought out about 1,000 cars that drove along the main airport roadway at 5 to 10 mph.
"We were the first car and I was the driver," Charles Berman, now the receiver of taxes for the Town of North Hempstead, recalled at the funeral. "And I remember thinking this might not be a good idea. She might get me arrested, and I haven't even got my first job yet," he said to laughter. "It was 1977 and I had just graduated college."
Active after Senate service
Charles said that after his mother's career in the Senate ended, she served as chairperson of the New York State Board of Elections from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. She was also a governor's appointee to the state's office of Housing and Community Renewal.
In September 2006, Berman, then 83, slipped into a platform gap at the Long Island Rail Road station in Lawrence and broke her left ankle. At the time, Newsday measured gaps as large as 11 inches at the station. Berman originally asked for $1 million in damages, but more than two years after the fall, she reached a $150,000 settlement with the LIRR, she said.
Jay Jacobs, New York State and Nassau County Democratic chairman, said in a statement: “Carol Berman paved the way for a Democratic resurgence in Nassau County at a time when no one thought it was possible. She served with distinction in the New York State Senate and was active for many years after she left that office, helping to elect other Democrats across the county. She will very much be missed.”
Besides Berman's two children, survivors include four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Burial was at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon.
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