Ed Bergdahl, age 88, passed away on November 5, 2005 at Manor Care Hospice. We know he is now in his heavenly home with his precious Lord and Savior.A Memorial Service to celebrate his “graduation” will be held on Thursday, November 10, 2005 at 2 PM at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 6995 Mae Anne Ave, Reno, NVEd is survived by his wife, Alice Bergdahl and his 2 daughters, Carroll Bergdahl and Chris May. He also has 2 brothers, Robert Bergdahl of Phoenix AZ and Chandler Bergdahl of Etowa, NC and Bergdahl Associates, Inc., the business that he and Alice established in 1955 which is still operating here in Reno.
Ed was born on November 19, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in Farmingdale, New York.
Ed and Alice met at and were also married at Central Presbyterian Church in Huntington, New York. They were married September 17, 1939 so they had just celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary!
Ed’s first job was at the Roxy Theater in New York City as an usher and then became assistant to the Art Director. This elegant 3000 seat theater preceded Radio City Music Hall, which still operates today. This was during the end of the vaudeville era, so Ed learned his joke and storytelling skills from the best, like Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Eddie Cantor and many other comedians.
While working at the Roxy he attended Hofstra College studying engineering and in 1940 started working for EDO Aircraft Corporation. After 10 years, he became a founding member of Target Rock Corporation, a research and development company in the aviation industry. He was their Vice President of sales.
In 1955, Ed and Alice moved their family to the San Francisco Bay Area and established Bergdahl Associates, Inc. They moved to Reno in 1976 and currently their company is still operating in Reno as a distributor of products for aviation and industrial applications. Ed was a charter member of the Northern California Chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Material Process Engineers (SAMPE) and he and his company have participated and supported this technical society for 35 years.
Throughout their lives, Ed and his family were also involved in church and Sunday School activities. This started at Central Presbyterian Church in NY where they were married and started their family. When the family moved to California, they became active members of Oakland Neighborhood Church that is now known as Cathedral at the Crossroads located in Castro Valley, California. He was the lay pastor of the Auburn Ski Club Chapel at Boreal Ridge, California, a member of Christian Businessmen’s Committee, a supporter and participant in several Billy Graham Crusades including the one here in Reno many years ago, a Fellow of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena California. Ed and Alice loved Hawaii and they spent many happy months each year there and became members of the Honolulu Elk’s Club and attended the Honolulu Presbyterian Church. Their current church home is Covenant Presbyterian Church here in Reno. He was a devoted Christian businessman who shared his faith in all that he did.
In Lieu of flowers donations can be sent to:
Fuller Theological Seminary’s Edwin O Bergdahl Scholarship Fund established in his name in the year 2000 to help support seminary students.
135 North Oakland Ave., Pasadena, CA 91182, www.fuller.edu