Alfred Joseph Berger
1904 - 1994



Alfred or 'Al' was born on 10/22/1904 at 250 Hosea Ave., Clifton, Cincinnati, OH. He was the 3rd son of George and Nellie Berger. Al went to Clifton Public School, Hughes High School finishing high school at Xavier High School, attended Xavier College, and on to U.C. for his doctorate in inorganic chemistry.

He married Florence Elizabeth Sudhoff on 8/1/1933 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Florence had gone to St. Ursula Academy, St. Ursula High School, and University of Cincinnati. Florence graduated Phi Beta Kappa, and went on to get a Masters Degree in early childhood Education.

"As Alfred graduated from College the depression hit. There were no jobs and he did not have the hard business drive that his father had. He chose graduate school in Chemistry. After getting a PhD Alfred worked for 30 years at the Institum Divi Thomas. Not only did he work pro bono but he made contributions also. He had started Massasoit Chemical Co. which made dishwashing compound before he was married (one of Florence's marrying conditions). In 1940 Alfred and Florence and the two children moved to a tumble down farm in Delhi. They enacted a thirty year renovation of the house and acreage experimenting with countour farming to turkey rasing (one of the turkeys escaped the thanksgiving oven for five years dying of old, age a tough old bird and attending weddings and parties often. Each summer the family toured somewhere until the Great Western Trip of 1960 was made dampening some of the children's desire for the tradition. Alfred and Florence had a great passion for Church and international students." by Fred Berger

Al died in 1/11/1994 in Hilton Head, SC. Florence died 4/13/1983. They are buried in Hilton Head, S.C.

Al and Florence's story is beautifully told in a book published by Studio Books, Hilton Head Island, SC in 2009.
The name of the book is 'Florence and Al Berger -- A Collaborative Memory of a Cincinnati Family' by Ann Berger Frutkin
with contributions from Mary Kelly, Fred Berger, Kathy Hager, Christine Heatherman, and Kia Vynorius.
Click the links below:
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introduction
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1 Alfred's early childhood
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1 Florence's early childhood
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2 career & decisions
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3 move to Delhi
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4 grade school life
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5 religious focus
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6 summer trips
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7 more growing up
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9 empty nesting
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10 Hilton Head


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