Deceased April 11, 1992
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In Memory
Our dear friend George Berry died April 11, 1992, in an automobile accident in Poolesville, Md., when a car crossed the center line and struck George’s car head on. This tragedy also claimed the lives of George’s beloved longtime companion, David Roberts ’79, and one of George’s closest childhood friends, Peter Burgess.
George grew up in Rye, N.H. Most of us met George in the fall of 1971 on the third floor of James in our freshman year. Gentle, warm, intelligent and possessed with an infectious sense of humor. We quickly became fast friends. George arrived at Amherst not only well versed in politics and current events, which was common enough in the Vietnam period, but also with a solid grounding in art, literature, classical music and foreign languages. This strong foundation in the liberal arts, in retrospect, strikes us as exceptional in somebody just out of high school, especially one who had never traveled outside of New England.
Throughout college, George was a loyal and close friends, always eager to talk, share a meal, see a movie, party, commiserate or laugh. Together we closely followed the events of that era, major and minor—the Vietnam War, Watergate, the Cold War, elections and many others—that rippled through our lives. George was an exciting and fun intellectual and social companion and a supportive and sensitive soulmate.
During our sophomore year, a group of us from James lodged at KT on Tyler Place, which was then in transition from fraternity to dormitory due to lack of members, and on our far corner of the campus, we had a memorable year of camaraderie and laughter. On election night 1972, a large group of McGovern supporters assembled in George’s room at 8 p.m. to watch the returns. The room was well stocked with beer and pizza, for what was expected to be a long vigil; the television networks, however, announced a Nixon landslide at about 8:05 p.m., and the beer and pizza did little to leaven our general gloom.
Several of us, including George, spent our junior year in Paris. George studied political science at the Instituts d’études politiques. His study of French, begun before Amherst, continued in college, and he quickly established a comfort level of fluency. Paris gave George his first taste of city life, and he enjoyed every minute of it. In addition to numerous friends and acquaintances from the Five Colleges who were also spending their junior year in Paris, at least three high school friends of George were also studying or living there, and he quickly was at the center of a constantly expanding expatriate circle. George was one of a group of four who pooled their savings and purchased a little Citroën Deux Chevaux, then the cheapest automobile made in France. The travels in that car included Britain, Italy, Holland, Germany and other parts of France.
Back at Amherst for our senior year, we stayed close and prepared for our eventual entry into the work world. For George, it was clear that our small college, set in a small New England town much like his hometown, would serve as a springboard to a more cosmopolitan and urban life. George retained a deep appreciation of Amherst and of its enrichment of his life no matter how far away he later ventured.
After college, George taught briefly in Japan, traveled in Asia and then moved to Washington, D.C., where he directed Georgetown Law School’s public relations by day and earned a law degree there by evening, a regiment he made seem effortless. It was only then that George revealed to us and to others generally that he was gay. As was typical of the time (and remains too much so today), George kept his sexuality to himself at Amherst. In Washington, George openly came to terms with it. From that point on, he gained a new self-confidence and assertiveness and threw off much of his former reserve.
Since college, we remained friends with George—seeing him, however, all too infrequently. His early and unexpected passing is especially painful for our lack of appreciation during his life of the importance of actively maintaining our friendship despite the competing demands of career and family, and the geographic distances that came to separate us. We are saddened by the fact that this tragedy has taken away the opportunity to further our friendship with him.
Soon after George moved to Washington, he met David Roberts ’79, and they established a strong, committed relationship that lasted throughout their lives. George and David were the center of a varied and large circle of friends that simply grew and grew. They were always, and deeply engaged, with their friends and their diverse interests. Just before they died, they had closed on the purchase of their first house in Washington. Firmly established in their careers, they were on the verge of a wonderful new stage of their lives when this senseless tragedy occurred.
Professionally, George was highly accomplished, respected and happy. Over the years, he worked for several public relations firms in Washington and New York City, the last six years or so with Ogilvy & Mather and Ogilvy, Adams and Rinehart, most recently as senior vice president. He was a role model and mentor to his colleagues and had a rare combination of creativity and personableness. George succeeded because he was so genuine, he insisted on excellence, he cared about people and he never lost sight of the humor in any situation. He became a real Renaissance man, in no small part because Amherst stimulated his love of knowledge and catholic tastes.
We will always cherish our memories of George’s earthy chuckle, his delight in life and in being with us, his good cheer and his friendship. We join all those who mourn his passing: his parents George Sr. and Arlene; his sisters, Laurie and Denise; his grandmothers; his great-grandmother; and his many friends.
Larry Gold ’75, Grant Haskell ’75, Brien Horan ’75, Scott Bradbury ’75, Wendy Haskell (Hampshire ’75) and Susanne Slater (Smith ’75)