Leon Berman
1909-2001
by Charles A. Wood
Ferndale, MI

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of the senior member of USSS, and close personal friend, Leon Berman.  Mr. Berman died October 19, 2001 at the age of 92.

The BIA Membership Directory of 1989-90 showed him as the senior member at that time with more than 60 years service.  He held membership number 165 and had told me several times that his number would have been even lower had he been allowed to join before age 21.

Leon lived all his life in and around Detroit.  He worked and raised his family there and was an active member of many area philatelic organizations until only a few years ago when his health declined.  Because he was an accountant, he was often elected treasurer of the local clubs and was the bourse chairman for many local shows.

He began collecting stamps at the age of nine, in 1918, and his daughter Ruth describes him as a consummate collector and pursuer of knowledge.  Growing up in the early years of flight and air travel brought about his fascination with airmail and, after May of 1927, with Charles Lindbergh and his flights and trips.  For many years Leon sent off covers to be flown on airmail routes across the U.S. and the world.  Several covers addressed in his hand were shown in an article in the September, 2001 issue of The American Philatelist.

Leon was not yet married when the U.S. entered WW II and he ended up in the army in his early 30s, serving a major stretch in Hawaii.  From there he collected and created covers to and from military bases all over the world.  After the war he was assigned with the occupation forces in Japan, another opportunity to collect and increase his knowledge.

To say that Leon collected everything is almost an understatement.  In addition to his basic U.S. and worldwide collections and his vast hoard of airmail material he collected nearly any topic you can name.  He had animals from aardvarks to zebras in every possible form - stamps, covers, advertising corner cards, meter imprints, etc.  His elephant collection was nearly the size of the animal itself.  Children on stamps, women on stamps, American Indians, ships and boats, stamp exhibition covers, dealer covers, U.S. postal history - he had it all.

Leon was a gentle man, and a gentleman, in every sense of the word.  He leaves his wife Christine, daughters Retta, Catherine and Ruth, seven grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and four great-great grandchildren.  He also leaves innumerable collector friends who feel very fortunate to have known him.