| A native of Butte, Montana, Tom Berg was deafened at
age 6 from spinal meningitis while attending public school. After
a long recovery, including learning to walk again, he entered Montana State
School for the Deaf and the Blind in 1929 at age 7. After four years
there, the Berg family moved to Seattle, Washington during the Great Depression.
So, in Seattle, he was enrolled in the T.T. Minor elementary school where
there were several strictly oral classes made up of deaf children. After
four years there, young Tom became very frustrated with the lack of social
contact with other deaf people and, especially, the lack of a sports program.
Tom persuaded his parents to let him enroll in the Washington State School
for the Deaf in Vancouver. That was in 1937. There, for two years, he
played football and participated in track while completing his school
years. His love for track had taken root!
Berg matriculated at Gallaudet College in the fall of 1939, and during the five years there he lettered in track and was on the wrestling team for three years. After graduating with a B.S. degree in 1944, he briefly worked as a chemist in Seattle before entering the teaching field at the Maryland School for the Deaf right after the end of World War II. There he restarted the ailing track program, and after only one year, he was offered a better position at the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind where he taught and coached for a number of years. In 1948, he founded the track program which in a few years produced John. E. Smith, the first American double gold medal winner at the 1953 International Games for the Deaf (IGD) at Brussels, Belgium. The IGD were later changed to World Games for the Deaf after the 1969 IGD. Seeking better opportunities after 10 years in Idaho, Berg was hired as assistant dean of students and head track coach by Dr. Leonard M. Elstad, president of Gallaudet College. After serving for seven years, Berg finally completed the requirements for a master's degree in education at the Unviersity of Maryland, studying at nights after coaching. During his twenty-eight years as track and eight as cross country coach, his teams were known for a number of first place medal winners at the annual Mason-Dixon Conference championships. Not to be forgotten were Steve Kugel, Robert Corbett, Al Couthen, Steve Baldwin, Joe Michiline, Herman Buckman, Johnny Samuels, Stanley Mals, Harold Foster, Mike Aquila, and Daniel Fitzpatrick, among many other equally talented athletes. In 1974, after Corbett had been out of competitioon for eleven years, Berg hired him as Gallaudet's FIRST filed events coach. Among his credentials were his three consecutive firsts in the discus competition during the Mason-Dixon championships! Berg was more than pleased to have him take charge of especially the throwing events. Also, he put together an excellent weight training program that soon produced a strong crops of throwers. He worked with men such as Dan Fitzpatrick, Mark Myers, Brian Sheehey, Thomas Withrow, Williard Moers, Jackie Swofford, Jeremiah Manning and a good number of other weight men. In 1957, Berg was approached by S. Robey Burns, noted AAAD figure, about the possibility of coaching the USA IGD team that would compete in the Milan, Italy IGD that summer. Grabbing that opportunity was Berg's first thought! Mr. Burns used to coach the athletic teams at the Illinois School for the Deaf, and was the founding father of the USA athletic teams participating in the "deaf-olympics" in 1935. Subsequently, he headed the 1939, 1949 and 1953 American delegations to those Games. Thanks to Art Kruger, founder of the AAAD in 1945, and team director and later chairman of the USA-WGD teams, Berg was selected to continue as head track coach of the 1961, 1969, 1973 and 1977 teams. Kruger ended his many years of working with the USA teams after the 1981 WGD. In 1988, the USA-WGD committee asked Berg to serve as the 1989 head coach. In addition, Berg served as track coordinator of the 1981 and 1985 teams. Thanks to the help of Corbett and Frank Costello and Nick Kovalikides, former head coaches at the University of Maryland. Berg helped produce such great Gallaudet athletes as John Smith, James MacFadden, Larry Evans, Leo Reid, Al Couthen, David Wood, Joe Michiline, Tom Henes, Stanley Mals, Dan Fitzpatrick, Brian Sheehey, Harold Foster, John Milford, Michael Farnady, Greg Rohlfing, Swafford and Manning who harvested a slew of gold medals during those years. Among Berg's numerous awards for his years of long service to better the Deaf are the Knute Rockne College Track Coach of the Year award in 1962; the Helms Foundation Award in 1973; a citation awarded by the Los Angeles Mayor Bradley in 1982; and the Art Kruger Service Award in 1985. Most recently, Berg received an honorary doctor of Laws degree during the Commencement Exercises at Gallaudet University. In 1945, Berg married the former Betty A. Hogan of Bancroft, Idaho to whom he owes his success. To their union were born three children, Frederick N. of Albuquerque; David O. of Rockville, Maryland; amd Jennifer Ann of Austin, Texas. Tom and Betty presently make their home in Colorado Springs, Colorado where they remain close to their roots, and do a lot of traveling, catching up on reading and fishing, and keeping contact with families~~old and new, friends and former associates. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1995. Their golden years are the rewards of all the love and hard work with their fellow peoples. |
