Bernstein, David Henry
We are heartbroken to announce that David Henry Bernstein passed away peacefully while sleeping in his Palm Desert home on October 1, 2022, just 22 days shy of his 84th birthday which would have been today.
Dad was born in Brooklyn, NY on October 23, 1938 to Sidney and Stella Bernstein, as the youngest of three brothers. He came to Hartford from New York with his family in 1955 for a fresh start and a world of new opportunity for the family business. In 1964, he met Patty DuBroff - the woman he would call his “bride” for the next 58 years - at a party hosted by mutual friends. After some fits and starts, and a brief courtship, they married and settled down in Hartford, eventually buying a house and raising two boys before another fresh start in 1974 with Dad starting his own business as a manufacturer's rep in the building products industry.
It was a perfect job for him. Anyone who knew Dad could tell you what a warm, funny and sharp guy he was. He genuinely cared about everyone he met and, after barraging them with 20 questions on their lives and family, would lock that information away in his head and refer back to it frequently in every subsequent conversation. He could also talk his way out of even the stickiest of situations and always looked for pragmatic solutions to intractable problems. In short, he was a born salesman.
He used that skill and his irrepressible optimism to live out the American Dream, building a business that was able to provide for his family and send two sons to college - outcomes he could only dream of while hitchhiking across New England in the 50s. But he ever let that success get to his head. That salesmanship and genuine sense of caring about people shone through in everything he did, so much so that he became known as “Mr. Mayor” in his circle - he knew every proprietor, every waiter, every forklift operator, every delivery man, every usher at the Whaler game, every gardener - basically anyone he encountered.
In 2014, after over 50 years in Hartford, he and Mom took the big step of uprooting themselves from their lives there to move out to Palm Desert to be closer to their grandkids and make sure they could be a part of their lives. It was a brave and scary decision to start over, but family was always a priority for Dad, and that love ultimately won the day. And what love it was. Dad showed up to every game, every performance, every birthday, every school event no matter how he felt or how long the driver - when you care that much, your actions naturally follow.
To no one's surprise, he and Mom quickly established a fantastic new circle of friends in their adopted desert home, weaving themselves into the fabric of the community and building memories anew. But despite living in his self-described paradise, he never took his foot off the gas, remaining active with his business and servicing his clients from 3,000 miles away until the very end.
David is survived by his beloved brothers Mark and Richard, his bride Patty, his sons Jeffrey and Michae, daughter-in-law Rachell and the four grandchildren he adored more than anything, Dylan, Erica, Eve and Sasha. Gifts in his memory can be made to the Coachella Valley Relief Mission (www. cvrm.org). Dad always loved Thanksgiving, and it would make him incredibly happy to feed those who are less fortunate this holiday season.
Please sign guestbook at courant.com/obituaries