Neighbor Spotlight: Edgeworth's Helen and Don Berman celebrate 74 years of marriage

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Edgeworth couple Helen and Don Berman consider themselves lucky as they celebrate 74 years of marriage.

Keeping a marriage thriving can be a challenge, but Helen said the couple has managed to make it work.

“He loves me, and I love him,” Helen Berman, 95, said.

Don Berman, 96, joked saying it was sheer willpower that the couple has been together.

The longtime Edgeworth residents moved to the area in 1953.

They have two children, Beth and Paul, who are graduates of Quaker Valley School District. During their time in Edgeworth, they have made an impact in the community.

Don Berman worked for Green Engineering and Edgeworth Water Authority. He made his mark in the 1980s as being one of the three founders of Pennsylvania’s recycling program. The program began after the passage of the Municipal Waste Planning Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101). Don Berman said the act required municipalities with more than 5,000 residents to implement curbside recycling.

Three people, Don Berman, Ruth Sterling and Sandy Strauss, were a part of the process with the Allegheny County to help draft a plan for what options municipalities had when implementing ways to create spaces for residents to properly recycle.

“It felt most gratifying to accomplish and for municipalities to address and fix waste problems,” he said.

Don Berman, who was very involved in environmental work, incorporated his passion into the couple’s 25th wedding anniversary when they participated in a solid waste tour of Europe.

Helen Berman worked for the Steelworkers Union in Pittsburgh around 1949 or 1950 and eventually moved on to work at Travelwares in the mid-1980s, a popular store on Sewickley’s Broad Street.

“My friends thought it was dangerous to work for a workers union, but it was the best thing I did. It was very interesting,” Helen Berman said.

Don Berman said when Helen worked at Travelwares, her outgoing personality came out. She would meet many friends, making her well-known around the area.

“We would walk the streets with her and people would say, ‘There goes Helen, but who’s that guy with her?” he joked.

The pair are also long-time members of the Beth Samuel Jewish Center in Ambridge. Due to its Orthodox presence, the couple – along with other congregation members – wanted to create a reform congregation to adopt a more modern teaching.

“We wanted our children to know they were Jewish and build a community,” Helen Berman said.

The reform would lead to the Bermans joining the Ahavath Sholom in Coraopolis in the 1960s. Student Rabbis would take turns leading services. Over time, as congregation members grew older and passed away, it began to dwindle.

“The congregation has to grow or it disappears,” Don Berman said.

The congregation eventually merged with Beth Samuel Jewish Center out of necessity in 1982, Don Berman said.

Gail Murray, founder of Communities First Sewickley Valley, met the couple through Beth Samuel Jewish Center.

“They’re very interesting people, and I consider them good friends,” Murray said.

Looking back, Don Berman believes the couple has lived a full life. As they celebrate their anniversary, they are grateful for each other.

“I always know he is there for me all the way,” Helen Berman said.

Her husband agreed. “This is one of life’s adventures.”