Story posted Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Dist. 225 Loses Former Board Member Berzon
By TOM ROBB Journal & Topics Reporter
Former Glenbrook High School Dist. 225 board member Wayne Berzon, 58, died of an apparent heart attack last week. Family and Dist. 225 officials consistently told the story of a man who tirelessly gave back to his community.
"No is not a word he knew," said Berzon's son Justin. If asked to volunteer his time Berzon gave without a second thought.
"If you asked him for his time he gave it to you and a little more," said Dist. 225 Supt. Dr. Mike Riggle.
Besides serving one term on the Dist. 225 board, Berzon worked on a host of commissions for the village of Northbrook, even hosting a local access television show called "Commission Impossible" showcasing village boards and commissions.
Berzon became the voice of Northbrook's Fourth of July Parade. He took the extra time to contact all the groups with floats to hear their stories and retell them on cable access television for the village.
"I was cleaning out his closets and next to his Armani suits stacked and folded neatly in the most prominent place was a stack of polo shirts from each year's parade," said Justin.
Berzon had a professional career advising schools on financial planning and employee benefits. Early in his career, he traded in the commodities pits of the World Trade Center in New York City. He was sent to the Chicago Board of Trade but moved away from high finance when his bosses wanted to pull him from the pits to oversee other traders.
"He understood the implications of a ¼ or ½ point change in the markets," said Justin.
From the world of the pits Berzon began his journey to the schools through his first wife who was a teacher at a private school in Chicago. Beginning with offering free financial planning sessions to teachers, Berzon dealt with school administrators and soon was advising schools on finance and becoming an expert on benefits planning.
Justin said his dad became so close with his clients he would ask what else he could do for them as a volunteer. In a few cases, this cost him business because he became too close to his clients. When Justin raised this concern to his father, it was dismissed because the volunteer work was important.
Justin said the night after his father's death he retuned to the family home in Northbrook and later took his father's car back to his home in Chicago.
On the drive back to Chicago, Justin noticed his father's old briefcase and several stacks of papers. They were "to do" lists for both his business and his volunteer efforts. The volunteer stack was twice as thick, said Justin.
Justin said after waiting up until 2 a.m. for his father's death notice to appear online, his email inbox was flooded with condolence messages. Through the next morning phone and email messages flooded in from civic and non-profit organizations, businesses and more boards and commissions than Justin could keep up with.
Berzon served on the Dist. 225 school board from 2005 until 2009 where he was honored with the status of "Master Board Member", he also served on the Northbrook Youth and Senior commissions and began working with the Northbrook Rotary Club in 2008.
Funeral services will be held today (Wednesday) at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home in Arlington Hts. with interment following at Shalom Memorial Park.
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