In Memoriam

John Peter Bermon

John died on March 31, 2020. Here is his obituary, followed by a remembrance by classmate Jim Currie.

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Obituary

Hartford Courant

May 3, 2020

John Peter Bermon, 77, formerly of Hartford, CT died peacefully at his home in Boston, MA on March 31, 2020, after living with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) for a long time.

He was born on January 17, 1943 in Erie, PA, the son of John Emil and Edna Mae Bermon. He graduated from Erie’s Strong Vincent High School in 1960 and Yale University in 1964

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, both Lutheran ministers, he enrolled in Union Theological Seminary in New York City. There he met Catherine Anne (Kit) Clarke of East Greenwich, Rhode Island in 1965, and they were married the following year

It was a time of great tumult, and John found himself drawn to issues of social justice and racial equality, including the anti-Vietnam War and civil- rights movements. He worked with a street academy in Harlem, and upon graduation from seminary in 1967, he became pastor of a Lutheran parish in Jamaica, Queens, NY

In 1970, they had a son Matthew, and the family moved in 1971 to Windsor, CT where John took up duties teaching philosophy and religion at the Loomis-Chaffee School. Over his years at the secondary school, he broadened the outlook of many students, introducing them to Western philosophy, Eastern religions, and precepts of psychoanalysis

It was during this time that John began a deep study of Buddhism. In 1974 he experienced a near-death medical crisis, which led him to an existential exploration that included extended psychoanalysis. Inspired, he went to graduate school at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work to become a clinical psychotherapist, a profession he felt was his true calling and that he practiced for nearly thirty years until his retirement in 2012

John Peter Bermon will be remembered by those who knew him as an unflinching seeker of truth, a compassionate friend, and a loving family man who brought a keen sense of humor to nearly any occasion. He was a passionate student of life and never tired of pondering its mysteries and its beauty

He is survived by his wife Catherine Anne Bermon of Boston, MA; son Matthew Jonah Bermon and his wife, Corinne Zaczek Bermon, also of Boston; brother Timothy James Bermon and his wife, Patricia Rider Bermon, of Barton, VT; brother-in-law David Alden Clarke of Portland, OR and niece Brydelea Clarke Schultz of Bellingham, WA

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Southern Poverty Law Center or for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) research.

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Remembrance by Jim Currie ’64

May 6, 2020

I first met John as we prepared to become the three-member Erie contingent of the Yale class of 1964. The third member of that group was Toby Young of Fairview.

John and I became "crash buddies" during our Yale career, being together on two crash occasions. One was an airplane crash-landing upside down outside of Smith College in the winter of 1961 (blizzard conditions into a farmer's field).

The other crash was a winter slippery-road car accident while traveling back to Erie from New Haven for Christmas break. Toby Young and my brother George were in the car during that one. Of the two, the car accident was really the more dangerous. It has us rolling backwards at about 70mph, staring into the bright oncoming headlights of a monstrous semi-trailer.

John's reaction to both these incidents was to find a great deal of humor in them. He made numerous hilarious comments, details which unfortunately now escape me. It was characteristic and endearing. John and I went on to live worthy lives, but no doubt his has been the more noble. I attended his and Kit's wedding in 1967 and last saw them at one of our recent reunions.

We will miss you dear boy, so rest in peace.