Barbara Berg Obituary

Barbara Ann Slezak Berg

May 2, 1934 - Jan 7, 2024

Ann Arbor, MI

Barbara Ann Slezak Berg, a creative educator and diligent environmentalist, departed this world Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, after moving there to be among her loving family.

Barbara was born May 2, 1934, in Akron, the youngest of four children and only daughter of the family. Barbara graduated from Garfield High School in 1951 and attended University of Akron, graduating with a BS in Education. After teaching in Akron for three years, she moved to the Chicago area where she taught in the Evanston school district. She earned her MA in Special Education from Northeastern Illinois University as she continued to teach in the related fields of learning disabilities and special education, retiring after 32 years.

Barbara was an active member of her community, regardless of location, and a special lady with divergent interests. While in Illinois, she was a dynamic member of Unitarian Church of Evanston and devoted much time to ministerial selection and membership. After moving to Ohio, she was the treasurer of Friends of Old Woman Creek, a nonprofit organization committed to the ecological integrity of the Old Woman Creek estuary in Huron.

A major concern for Barbara was water and air quality. She remained steadfast in her advocacy for better protection of waterways, especially Old Woman Creek, which she called "a little jewel on the lake." Even though progress has been made, she felt that we have a long way to go in caring for our planet.

Barbara was also a member of Huron Garden Club, Bonsai Club, and League of Women Voters. She served as representative for the focus group at NASA Plum Brook to decommission the reactor facility in Sandusky – a successful endeavor. Her love of nature, birds, activism, and art remained throughout her life.

Never missing an opportunity to hear music, Barbara loved attending Cleveland Orchestra concerts and signed up to check coats and hats at the Lyric Opera House in Chicago to see the shows for free. She unforgettably introduced one of her daughters to opera through the connection at the opera house. In addition, Barbara was an enthusiastic supporter of the local Gilbert and Sullivan productions. Both of her daughters fondly remember being brought to museums, libraries, and concerts whenever possible by their amazing mother.

As a prolific reader, Barbara particularly enjoyed the works of PD James and multiple local newspapers. Barbara's travels took her to many places including Alaska, Egypt, and Switzerland. Her favorite state, after Ohio, was Maine. She enjoyed traveling to California to see her daughter, Freda, and Michigan to visit her daughter, Karen. Her family knew her well for her gifts of two-dollar bills and New Yorker comics, immense knowledge of nature and advocacy, and practical advice.

Barbara is survived by two daughters, Freda Yoshioka and Karen Fine; sons-in-law, Teru Yoshioka and Paul Fine; grandchildren, Derek Fine (and his wife Amber Gipson-Fine), Eleanor Thompson (and her husband Scott Thompson), Benjamin Fine, Saku Yoshioka, and Asa Yoshioka; and great-grandchildren, Yosef Thompson, Miriam Thompson, and Tehilah Thompson.

She was preceded by her parents, Andrew George Slezak and Bertha Louise Prochaska Slezak; and older brothers, Andrew W., Raymond J., and William R.

She will be dearly missed.