4 minute read
Betty Berkman by Dickie Anderson
Betty Berkman by Dickie Anderson
Berkman’s welcoming smile immediately puts those around her at ease. To meet her is to know her. She welcomes those she meets with an immediate warmth. There is no pretense. She has lived a good life with an amazing man and she shares her stories freely.
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Her husband, David Berkman, died in 2021. The Berkman name is familiar. The couple has supported many initiatives on Amelia Island, including the Baptist Medical Center Nassau’s hospital wing, The Betty and David Berkman Building for Patient Care.
They were partners in life for 68 years. If you ask Betty about her husband, proud is an understatement. Up until the day, he died he worked, it was his job and his joy. He had a talent for real estate investment and was wildly successful in a variety of locations, including Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee.
A soft cuddly bear became a signature of David Berkman’s caring for others. He loved stuffed animals and often gave them as gifts to friends and family. He would stop at stores and buy armloads of stuffed animals. Those gifts are treasured now that he is gone.
The Berkmans love of Amelia Island is evident in their many generous gifts. When Baptist Medical Center Nassau needed to expand and add a hospital wing, the Berkmans stepped up. The Betty and David Berkman Building for Patient Care consist of 48 private patient rooms, including an eight bed critical care unit. Their gifts have touched many different people in the community.
In October 2022, Nassau Habitat for Humanity in Fernandina Beach dedicated Berkman Place, where four homes will be built honoring David Berkman. When there was a need for new playground equipment in Central Park, again, Betty Berkman stepped up. The equipment will be dedicated this year on February 5, her late husband’s birthday.
Betty is dedicated to the Council On Aging Nassau County (NCCOA). Recently, the organization broke ground on its newest project, a pavilion and memorial garden for seniors and the community at large. The Berkman Pavilion and Memorial Garden will be a place for people to gather – people of all ages – named in memory of David Berkman.
“Betty Berkman is the epitome of compassion, stewardship, courage, and generosity,” shares Janice. “I have come to know Betty as a champion of good and a shining star in the lives of all who come in contact with her. She never meets a stranger, and she can light up any room. Betty is one of the most selfless people on the face of this earth—a genuinely dear person with a heart of gold. I love her.”
After her husband’s death, Betty moved out of the large house they shared and settled into a condo in Osprey Village. She is quick to share it was the best decision she could have made. Everything is convenient, there is lots going on, and she doesn’t have to fuss about meals. She treasures the many new friends she has made there, and she enjoys dinner out with friends.
Her cozy apartment includes an office, where she does her work and correspondence. The wall of photos includes one of the championship Atlanta Knights, a remembrance of a proud moment in the Berkmans’ life. In 1992, the Atlanta Knights, the minor league hockey team owned by the Berkmans, gave Atlanta their first championship sports team.
One of David’s signature stuffed bears sits on Betty’s desk. Vases of the roses she loves are placed around the room. She smiles as she recalls the dozen roses that David gave her for her birthday in the earliest days of their marriage. On every special occasion thereafter, roses would arrive. They became a special symbol of the Berkmans love.
Betty maintains a busy schedule and stays involved in the many organizations where the Berkmans have made and continue to make a difference in the Amelia Island community. A few of those include Boys and Girls Club, Barnabas, Baptist Medical Center Nassau, and Council On Aging Nassau. In addition, she maintains ties with Emory University Hospital, where she started a popular annual fundraiser, the Torch Gala, to bring awareness to the Crohns’s and Colitis Foundation (CCFA).
Amelia Island has been blessed by the Berkmans many generous gifts, but even more by their example and love of community.
Janice Ancrum and Betty Berkman
Betty Berkman (center) at the COA groundbreaking
