A dozen years ago, Robert Berg wrote his mother’s obituary. Although she was still alive, her age was already in triple digits. As a devoted son, international developer and a senior advisor working at the United Nations, he had learned long ago to be prepared.
He need not have hurried. Despite her immense enthusiasm for life and world-class energy, her family did not anticipate she could keep going this long.
On Oct. 1, 2022 Pearl Berg, who still lives in her home of 47 years in the Los Feliz district, turned 113 years old. According to her family, Pearl is the oldest person in Southern California, the second oldest in California, eighth oldest in the U.S., and she is tied for 33rd in the world.
“We believe she is the oldest Jewish person in the United States, and likely in the world.” For a dozen years, Pearl’s birthdays have been flitting by.
“I don’t know why,” said Robert, “but I was just floating along. Then suddenly she got to be 105, 106. I started thinking ‘we are in extraterrestrial neighborhoods.’ We think a great-grandmother of hers lived to an advanced age. Her mother died at 88, but she was a lifelong smoker. My assumption is any other person would have died of lung cancer long before that age.”
This month, on Oct. 1, when Pearl was reminded by family and caretakers that her birthday had arrived, she strongly resisted the date — as she has for her entire life.
Her two sons, Alan, 84, and Robert, 82, visit several times a year, and now it was Alan’s turn when 113 dawned. One hour before a few guests were to arrive, Alan informed his mother it was her birthday. As firmly as a rock, Pearl insisted that it was not, that her birthday is in February.
According to her birth certificate, discovered about five years ago, Pearl Louise Synenberg was born, at home, in Evansville, Ind., on Oct. 1, 1909 to Annie and Archie Synenberg, whose families were from Russia and Poland, though he was born in Toronto and she in Toledo.
Pearl was named for her father’s aunt, Pearl Finkelstein. For various reasons, however, her parents told their families, and Pearl, that she had been born on Valentine’s Day, 1910, in New Orleans, one stop among a huge number of cities that her parents visited as itinerant photographers, traveling with a theatrical troupe.
As Pearl has lived knowing no other birth date, the family long celebrated her birthday on Valentine’s Day. Even on this month’s birthday, with characteristic firmness Pearl declared that this is October, and her real birthday is on Feb. 14.
As few people really know, when you have practiced a habit for about 108 years (1296 months) it is virtually impossible to overcome it.
However, through online research, Judy Taback, the birthday girl’s niece and the family historian, compiled an enormous number of volumes about her relatives and discovered the truth — Pearl’s Evansville birth certificate. Taback is the daughter of Pearl’s late sister Selma (1913-2003).
An immense amount of irony abounds throughout Pearl Berg’s fascinating and colorful life.
In Taback’s booklet, printed as a tribute to her Aunt Pearl’s 100th birthday, the cover page, with a photo of cute Pearl at about age five, declares “Pearl’s Story, celebrating her 100th birthday, February 14, 2010, Los Angeles, California.”
The seven lines of copy on the opening page faithfully report “Not only Jazz began in New Orleans and came up the Mississippi. Pearl Louise Synenberg was also born in Louisiana, on February 14, 1910. Her parents, Archie and Annie Synenberg, were itinerant photographers, traveling in the winter months through the South, going by train from city to city as they sought opportunities for work. In the summer months, they worked in the North. When their daughter Selma was born in 1913, they decided to stay in the North. They went to live in Canton, Ohio, not far from Archie’s family in Cleveland.” (The youngest sibling, Pearl’s brother Bob, was born in 1914.)
Although she was born in Indiana, her parents did not remain there for long. Pearl grew up in Pittsburgh. She moved with her parents to Los Angeles in 1929, shortly before her 20th birthday. Less than a month later, she met her husband-to-be, Mark Berg, an ambitious immigrant from Ukraine. Pearl’s cousin introduced her to the girl he was dating, Louise Berg. Louise had been tasked with finding a date for her “old” Uncle Mark, 28 at the time, for a group outing to the mountains. Face-to-face for the first time, Mark immediately was smitten by the diminutive, 4-foot-11 Pearl.
Pearl and Mark wed two years later on Nov. 15, 1931 in the Boyle Heights home of the rabbi who married them. The couple honeymooned in Murrieta Hot Springs, a Riverside County resort that was popular at the time and cost $50 per week for food and accommodations.
Judy Taback, the family historian, explained what came next: “By the mid 1930s, it was clear that Mark was very ill. His symptoms were extreme fatigue, loss of appetite, darkening of the skin, low blood pressure and depression.
“Los Angeles doctors suggested he go to the Mayo Clinic for a diagnosis. There he was diagnosed as having Addison’s Disease, the same affliction that John F. Kennedy had many years later. Pearl and medications nursed him back to health. But he always carried the disease. When he died, he had the distinction of having the oldest case of Addison’s on record.”
Pearl was widowed 33 years ago at the relatively tender age of 80 after an intensely active and involved 58-year marriage. She eventually became a vital part of Mark’s successful business, Berg Metals, Berg Pipe and Steel, Airomotive Equipment of Southern California, and a brokerage business specializing in extra-large pipe.
Taback said that Pearl was “Mark’s big asset” in transforming business connections into friends. “Her beauty, her fine hostessing (starring her coconut icing cake), bright remarks and laughter led to lifelong friendships.
“For example, there were the Brocklehursts. Pearl and Marge Brocklehurst became best friends for over 50 years until Marge passed away at age 100. “Their friendship (Marge and Pearl talked on the phone often) created beautiful memories — trips to Balboa, parties and just being together — that have lasted into the next generation.
“Another example of Pearl’s asset to the business was her help with Japanese businessmen who would bring their wives for dinners at fancy restaurants.
“The wives did not speak each other’s languages,” said Taback, “but Pearl’s smiles and sympathetic gestures did their magic with the counterpart wives. Those evenings ended with a hug (and a deal sealed).
“Pearl was and is very close with her family. Her parents had a difficult life economically and as a social unit. But she made the best of it, as did her sister, Selma.”
Over the years, Pearl accompanied Mark on many of his business trips to cities across America. Often they would combine family with business and entertaining customers. Additionally, Pearl and Mark traveled to lands across the globe, leading to this classic Pearl story. Taback reports that in May 1961, Pearl traveled with Mark for a two-week adventure in Japan. “Without speaking two words of Japanese,” Taback said, “Pearl won over their business hosts by simply smiling and being supportive of Mark. Good thing. Mark, a paragon of ethics, was chagrined to have to bring a gift to the CEO of a major steel company. The Bergs brought a mink stole only to find that a competitor had brought a Buick. Pearl, however, was the equalizer.”
After arriving with his Ukrainian family in Pasadena in 1924, in order to learn English, the 24-year-old Mark attended night school and during the day also attended third grade at a local elementary school. Additionally, he started to work at California Mill Supply, sorting used bottles by color. By the end of the 1920s Mark was with Berg Metals as a buyer of scrap metals and quickly rose to management levels on his way up the ranks. He even had a new car, a Hupmobile. By the end of World War II, he was general manager.
She created a new life of theater, concerts, book groups and bridge — all of which she was active in for decades.
Looking back four decades, Pearl’s family recalls she almost literally took a time-out from 1980 to 1989 after Mark was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She cared for him through that ultimately fatal disease, and in the last years was augmented by professional caregivers. After Mark died in late 1989, Pearl pulled herself together impressively. She created a new life of theater, concerts, book groups and bridge — all of which she was active in for decades. Knitting and beading became two of her favorite pastimes.
Robert reported that “one of the really nice things she did when she was in her late 90s, and until she was 105, was to write condolence notes on behalf of Temple Israel of Hollywood. She labored over them … very carefully. Each message was individual. She searched for the specialness of every person.”
In 1937, the year of their first son’s birth, Pearl and Mark joined Temple Israel of Hollywood, where Pearl remains a member after 85 years. “I think people used to come to temple on Friday nights just to see her and greet her in her front-row seat,” says Taback.
Let there be no doubt about Pearl’s sense of humor, even when it was unintentional. Robert remembers a conversation in 2001 when she was 92 years old and still driving. “My car has a slight shimmy,” she told Robert. “But it goes away when I go past 70.” She drove until her mid-90s.
One explanation for Pearl Berg’s uncommon longevity may be that she appears to have been nearly as active in the second half of her life as she was in the opening half.
One explanation for Pearl Berg’s uncommon longevity may be that she appears to have been nearly as active in the second half of her life as she was in the opening half. While she has confronted and dealt with periodic dementia, some things never change. Her daily diet is one example of this consistency, and includes “dark chocolate of any kind and desserts,” says Taback. “They keep her going.”
While the Bergs are proud of Pearl’s longevity, Robert said the only time she commented on it was on her 107th birthday in 2016.
A KTLA television reporter visited the house to interview her during her birthday party. His first question was, “Mrs. Berg, how did you get to be 107?” She looked up with a twinkle and said, ‘First, you have to be 106.’ She has a lovely sense of humor,” says Robert.
Like their high-achieving parents, Pearl and Mark Berg’s two sons have made strong marks on their professions.
Alan P. Berg, Ph.D, MD, 85 in a few weeks, is a retired, award-winning physician who lives in a suburb of Philadelphia. He was known for meeting with his patients in their homes, people too sick to be out of their homes but not sick enough to be hospitalized.
Robert Berg, 82, has careers in international development, non-profit leadership and has worked as senior advisor to four major parts of the United Nations: UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. He lives in Washington D.C., and travels regularly.
Three years ago the Journal reported on Pearl’s approaching 110th birthday. In a reflective mood, Rabbi John Rosove, rabbi emeritus of Temple Israel of Hollywood, recalled that he “blessed her at services every year since she was about 100.” He said that when he uttered the traditional phrase, “To 120,” Pearl responded, “Please God, no.” And there she was, almost 110.
Rosove described Pearl as someone with “a great sense of humor. He continued: “Every time I see her, she brings a smile to my heart, and she doesn’t complain about anything,” Rosove said. “If you ask her, ‘How are you?’ she says, ‘I’m 109, what do you think?’ She’s one of those favorite people that you come across from time to time [who] is somewhat ageless.”
There is no question about Pearl and Mark’s commitment to Judaism. She was a leader of Hadassah until the end of her active days. Robert said his parents were committed to support of Israel, especially when it was fighting in 1948. But the elder Bergs knew when to speak out and when being quiet was crucial.
“My mother was silent when my father and his older brother Mischa — then head of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation — arranged in 1947 for a shipment of ‘agricultural equipment’ to Israel, via Mexico,” Robert said. While the boxes were marked with those two innocent words, “agricultural equipment,” the contents were actually airplane engines meant for the Israeli air force.
“Neither of my parents ever spoke about this,” said Robert.
It is said that all who have entered Pearl’s circle during the past 113 years became immediately familiar with her reputation as a fashionista.
It is said that all who have entered Pearl’s circle during the past 113 years became immediately familiar with her reputation as a fashionista. From the earliest days of her Queen Esther costumes at Purim to the galas she attended with her late husband Mark, Taback said Pearl “always has dressed with a flair.” Incidentally, she could remember what everyone wore and said at the bar mitzvahs, weddings and funerals of the past. Relatives have marveled at her memory.
For those who are struck by irony, Pearl and Mark moved into the Los Feliz district home that they designed and had built on the November day in 1966 that their only grandchild, Belinda, was born to Robert and his wife Ellen.
In contrast to the lifelong upbeat Pearl, her mother Annie’s childhood was oppressive. It would leave its mark. When Pearl’s grandfather enlisted in the Army — he served in the Spanish-American War in 1898 — nine-year-old Annie was left to tend to her younger sister, Josephine, while her single mom went to work as a peddler, selling items door-to-door. This practice was not only extremely rare but also dangerous for a woman. Since Annie was bright — she had a few years of schooling and could read and write — she kept her mother’s books for her business. Starting as a young child, Annie also did all the housework, cooked meals and looked after her younger sister.
Archie, Pearl’s father, had a different upbringing. Though his mother died when he was only nine years old, family lore holds that he led quite a happy existence since everyone fussed over him. He lived with his father and was cared for by his older sisters.
Following the 1909 marriage of Annie and Archie Synenberg, and Pearl’s birth, the family pursued photography (Archie’s first professional love) for two more years, before moving to Cleveland to operate a silent movie theater. By 1914, Archie, Annie, Pearl and Selma relocated to Pittsburgh the year brother Bob was born.
The Synenberg family joined Rodef Shalom Synagogue, a Reform congregation where Pearl was confirmed May 19, 1926. Her class had over 100 students.
Pearl attended Schenley High School in Pittsburgh, two-and-a-half blocks away from her home on Craig Street. She was remembered as a very good student. However, as with many young girls at that time, she opted to leave high school after completing the 11th grade. She enrolled at Grace Martin’s Secretarial School for her senior year. When she graduated, she immediately secured a job. Her father always felt, though, that she could have become a lawyer if she had been able to attend a university.
Archie Synenberg owned a garage, Massie’s Motors, a few blocks from their home. He sold used cars and also had car repair facilities. Around 1927, Archie acquired a Hudson-Essex agency, selling cars for budget-minded people. But as the 1920s came to a close, sales sank to zero. The Great Depression was at hand. For business owners such as Archie, there were no prospects of a recovery. Things grew desperate.
Due to the economic conditions Archie faced, the Synenberg family decided to sell their home to a doctor who lived in an apartment building next door and move to California, where Annie had family. Her mother, Jennie Gerson, had moved there in 1926.
As the family was preparing to drive across the country in August, 1929, Pearl’s life was about to change dramatically.
As the family was preparing to drive across the country in August, 1929, Pearl’s life was about to change dramatically. First, though, Pearl, her sister Selma and her brother Bob, all teenagers, shared space with their parents for the cross-country journey in the family’s McFarland, a large touring car.
When the Synenbergs first arrived here in Los Angeles., since almost-20-year-old Pearl no longer was a girl but a young woman, she needed to help support the family. With the Depression on, Annie and Archie implored Annie’s brother-in-law, Uncle Mike Norin, to help their family. He hired Pearl to run the PBX machine in his office. But it also became apparent to Archie, says Taback, that the economic climate, the Depression, had made it impossible to continue in the used car business. Following a few tries in other fields — one was renting a small diner that formerly was a barbecue joint near 36th and Western in the Jefferson Park neighborhood — Archie turned to what he knew and loved best, photography, to make a living.
Even today, more than 85 years after Archie happily returned to his first love, relatives remember seeing Archie and his faithful camera at every occasion. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Archie was a fixture at Berg parties and other family affairs, says Taback, “photographing them and letting us see how the family looked year after year.” He was a commercial photographer who recorded many Los Angeles landmarks, industries, class photos and weddings. Capturing people on film was his first love. Archie’s ever-present camera also created pictorial memories of Hollywood stars of the day.
He knew his craft well, says Taback. Meanwhile, his son Bob helped him with the labor of transporting the equipment and setting up the shoots. Annie always was there, too, helping to arrange the shots, even adding color to his black and white images. Archie conducted his commercial photography business for the rest of his life.
Unlike the majority of his remarkably long-lived family, Archie died on Aug. 7, 1952, at age 66, typical for the times but youthful by the standards of his family. Taback says that Annie lived a less than happy widowhood until her late years when she mellowed. A much more forthcoming personality emerged. Annie died in October 1978 at age 88.
While Pearl and Mark were a lot alike, Annie had a different temperament. She and Archie were an example that opposites attract. He was restrained and she was compulsive. He acted like a pacifist. He could make friends easily but she was insecure and had difficulty making friends. He was a bit indifferent but still nicely dressed. She was neat as a pin and always was presentable. Knowing she had next to no social friends of her own, Pearl took her mother everywhere and gave her an outside life for the rest of her days, placing a needed glow around her mother’s waning life.
By the time Archie revived his photo career on the West Coast in the ‘30s, Pearl, who always lived around the Los Feliz district, was uncommonly busy with a life-threatening crisis in her own home, Mark’s frightening, never-ending bout with Addison’s disease.
Robert paid tribute to his mother’s “wonderful ability to keep old friends and make new friends throughout her life. The warmth of her love continues. It is the glue that binds families and numerous continuing friendships.”
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.