Irma Berkley, 'one of those people you feel lucky to have known'

St. Boniface Martyr Church was struggling when Pastor, Fr. Robert A. Romeo arrived in 2007. Irma Berkley was one of the first people he met. Romeo said he admired her devotion to God and her positivity. And then there was the fact that Berkley was always smiling.

On Easter, the church was filled to capacity with a line of people snaking out the door, which was very unusual for St. Boniface. Romeo said he was overjoyed, but worried that some of the regular parishioners would be upset.

“At the end of the mass Irma walked up to me. I was like here it comes,” Romeo said. “She said, ‘Father I could not get a seat today and it is the first time in years. I’m so happy that so many people came.’ If you meet someone you want to clone it was Irma.”

Berkley, 91, of Glen Cove, died on Oct. 4, from kidney and renal failure.

She will be missed at the Glen Cove Senior Center, where she helped kickoff many of the programs. Carol Waldman, who retired in 2019 as the center’s director, said Berkley helped to get the Intergenerational Program with Landing School students off the ground and was instrumental in a writing workshop for the seniors.

“She did so many things,” Waldman said, about her friend of 30 years. “She helped me with Coffee and Conversation and hosted it until she couldn’t do it anymore. Irma was kind, generous and thoughtful, one of those people you feel lucky to have known.”

Devoted to her children, Susan Graham, William R. Berkley III, Peggy, Tish Warner and Timothy, Berkley was also committed to her husband William. When he was in a nursing center in Glen Cove toward the end of his life, Berkley drove back and forth to visit him every day until he died. A year and a half ago, Berkley moved to the Atria, an assisted living center in Glen Cove. Her daughter Tish, said the day she moved to the Atria her mother handed her the keys to the car.

Berkley was a stay at home mom when her children were young, active in her children’s school. But once Timothy, the youngest child, was in elementary school Berkley began working at Cole School as a teacher’s aide, working with children with disabilities. Then she worked in the Glen Cove School District.

“Many of her students she kept in touch with on Facebook,” Tish said. “Even after Mom passed, we had a lot of responses on Facebook.”

And she was popular among her children’s friends. Susan said her mother was happy that her friends gathered at her house. “She had a knack for making us laugh so hard it hurt,” Susan said. “She had a big heart. When Mom died many people called and said that Mom was there for them. We had a friend who had problems at home. My mother let him live with us.”

“As a mom she was funny and made us laugh,” Tish said. “I miss her voice, her hugs, her saying, ‘I love you.’ She was never selfish with that.”

Tish said her mother taught her children the importance of family. As a result, Berkley’s children are close.