WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Rockwood Norton Berry, 99, passed away peacefully Thursday, July 5, at Spring Haven Retirement, Winter Haven, Fla.
Predeceased by his wife, Louise (Garland) Berry; sons David and Richard Berry; and brothers Howard, Ronald and Theodore Berry, Rock is survived by daughter, Katherine, and her husband, Curt Oestreich, of Leesburg, Fla.; daughter, Cynthia Berry, and Joseph Parker of Lake Wales, Fla.; daughter-in-law, Pamela Berry, of Waterford, Conn.; five grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; brothers Thomas and Carlton Berry of Livermore; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
Rock was born in Livermore, the son of Lewis and Erma Berry. He is a 1941 graduate of the University of Maine (B.S. in horticulture), where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
Rock is a WWII veteran (captain, U.S. Army, 101st Airborne, 550th Battalion). In May 2015, he joined the Polk County (FL) Flight to Honor group to visit the WWII monument in Washington, D.C.
Rock was married to Louise Garland for over 65 years. The family lived in North Livermore, where he worked with his father on the Berry Hill Orchard. He was active in the Baptist Church and was grand Mason for the Oriental Star Lodge No. 21.
Rock and family moved to Suffield, Conn., in 1960 when he became CEO of the New York and New England Apple Institute. He was a past president and served as life deacon at the Second Baptist Church in Suffield.
In the 1980s, Rock and Louise retired to Florida and they joined First Christian Church in Haines City, where Rock served as deacon, treasurer and chairman of the board. He was also a charter member of The Crossroads Chapel in Davenport.
In his retirement, Rock had many interests: reading, golf, fishing, cribbage, oil painting, genealogy. His goal was to live to age 100 — he made it to his 100th year!
Rockwood Norton Berry
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