Los Angeles Times

BERG, Michael

December 10, 1932 - April 23, 2021

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Retired Superior Court Judge Michael Berg has died at the age of 88 from complicati­ons of cancer and cardiovasc­ular disease. His burial was private. Active in the judiciary almost to the end of his life, he spent thirty years on the bench in Los Angeles Superior Court and then found fulfillmen­t in his retirement as a mediator and arbitrator.

Mike was a lifelong Angeleno, born to Joseph Berg and Sonia (Tillen) Berg at the old Cedars of Lebanon hospital in Hollywood, where three years later his sister, Susan, joined the family. He attended Wilshire Crest Grammar School, John Burroughs Junior High School, Los Angeles High School and UCLA. Upon graduating college and before entering USC Law School, he served for two years in army counterint­elligence during the Korean War.

Fixed up on a blind date by his closest friend, Ed Edelman, Mike met Hedvah Alkow in 1957 when she was a senior at UCLA. They married in 1958, and with the birth of Eric in 1962 and Jesse is 1967, he experience­d what he always said was the greatest joy of his life, being a father.

An interest in criminal law led to his first job as a Public Defender, much to the horror of his mother who envisioned her boy joining a nice law firm, but Mike was passionate about his clients, particular­ly the ones he knew were guilty. Being in a courtroom every day deepened his respect for the power of the law and led to a desire to become a judge. When Mike finally did attain this goal, his long career saw him presiding in almost every department of Superior Court. He was greatly admired by his many staffs and the thousands of lawyers who appeared before him.

Besides his family, Mike had two great passions in life: tennis and classical music. At LA High, he was “Big Mike Berg” on the tennis team with a ferocious serve. After he met his friend Ed (who went on to become a Los Angeles Councilman and Supervisor), they played every Saturday morning for fifty years. Their rivalry was unending, and any loss either of them had was always due to an inferior racket, never themselves.

When his parents bought a piano, Mike began taking lessons and developed a great talent which nourished him for his entire life. He had many teachers, all of whom contribute­d to his knowledge and love of the entire piano literature. Only days before his death, he slowly used his walker to get to his beloved Steinway, the same one he played on as a boy. He had it totally re-conditione­d as a gift to himself when he retired.

He was a chocoholic who raided the Halloween bags of his children while they slept. Every time he received a gift box of See’s Assorted Chocolates there was nothing left after two days but empty wrappers. Mike read two newspapers every day and his favorite reporters on television were quoted frequently. He had a voracious appetite for politics and for reading history and biography. He loved movies, magic tricks and the Lakers and was obsessed with the true authorship of the works of Shakespear­e.

In addition to Hedvah, he leaves behind his son Eric who is married to Shaunah and their two children, Matthew and Henry. He also leaves Jesse who is married to Cheryl and their daughter Evie. His Tillen cousins who survive him are Tamar Cooper, Anita Dancoff and Judith Dancoff. His Berg cousins are Lyne Alschuler, Jill Rossner, Jeremy Berg, Alan Berg and Robert Berg; his beloved niece Lorin Pullman; and Auntie Pearl Berg who is still with us at the age of 111.

Michael’s kindness and modesty followed him all the days of his life. We already miss him terribly.

A donation in his memory can be made to the ACLU or to your local library.

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