1931
Ellen
2024
Ellen P. Berkeley
May 10, 1931 — October 24, 2024
Born on May 10, 1931, in New Rochelle, N.Y., Ellen was the second child of Lee and Esther (Fish) Perry. Her mother was an award-winning ceramic artist who was also active in community programs, most notably launching a nursery school for the children of women "war workers" during WWII. Ellen's father was a skilled architect who bartered his advice for family necessities during the Depression, then opened a lively postwar practice designing buildings throughout Westchester County, NY.
Ellen attended public schools in New Rochelle, and received a B.A. from Smith College in 1952. She attended Harvard's Graduate School of Design for 2 ½ years toward the 4-year M.Arch. degree. During the 1950s, she lived briefly in London, where she studied at the London School of Economics. In Palo Alto, CA, she worked in an architectural office and, on her own, designed the first of her two houses to be built. In Ithaca, NY, where she was Research Assistant at Cornell's Housing Research Center on a noted bathroom study.
Moving to New York City in 1959, Ellen worked for the journal Progressive Architecture as Assistant Technical Editor, then in 1966 was hired away by the Architectural Forum as a Senior Editor. This was the year she met her husband of 43 years, on a backstage tour of the old Metropolitan Opera House, just before the building was torn down. In 1971, she moved to a new journal, Architecture Plus, again as a Senior Editor. Between 1959 and 1973, she did many groundbreaking articles for architects. She was also on the Board of Directors of the influential Municipal Art Society in NYC, where she liked sitting across the table, at meetings, to watch another member, Jackie Kennedy. Over the years, Ellen served on many juries, judging the work of architects, and in 1980 was one of twelve panelists chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts to evaluate 15 years of grants awarded by the NEA.
For her writing, she was awarded a mid-career fellowship at Harvard's Graduate School of Design in the early 1970s. Soon afterward, she began to teach three-credit courses and shorter workshops on "Architectural Writing and Criticism" at some of the nation's leading architecture schools. She lectured on architectural journalism - its flaws and possibilities - at many of these schools.
Active in seeking equal status for women in the profession of architecture, Ellen was one of seven women who created the Women's School of Planning and Architecture, which ran innovative two-week sessions from the 1970s into the 1980s, renting facilities at a different college campus each summer. Ellen came to think of WSPA as a combination of graduate seminar, support group, and summer camp. Those who attended came to think of WSPA as one of the most important learning experiences of their professional lives.
When her magazine job was lost in the recession of the early 1970s, Ellen and her husband moved to Vermont (thanks largely to Roy's winnings on "Jeopardy!"), to the house that was the second of her own designs to be built. Here, in Shaftsbury, she enjoyed a busy free-lance life, writing for regional and national publications such as the New York Times, the Village Voice, Architecture (journal of the American Institute of Architects), Vermont Life, Vermont Magazine, the Women's Times, Prime Time Journal (distributed by the Rutland Herald), several of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, all the cat magazines - and more. She was Guest Editor of an issue of the Journal of Architectural Education. Her books, published to excellent reviews and sales, included Maverick Cats: Encounters with Feral Cats (1982); Architecture: A Place for Women (1989); At Grandmother's Table: Women Write about Food, Life, and the Enduring Bond between Grandmothers and Granddaughters (2000); and a thriller, Keith's People (2003). Her writing won many national awards.
After publication of the grandmothers book, Ellen gave memoir-writing workshops in nearby libraries, bookstores, and retirement facilities. She also helped several friends to produce their own books. In addition, she was a long-time member of the Board of Advisors of Alley Cat Allies, the national resource for feral cats, ever since that energetic organization was founded in 1990. She was a strong supporter of controlling feral cat numbers by the Trap-Neuter-Return method, which was furthered considerably in this country by ACA (and by Ellen, with her early articles and her comprehensive book on the subject).
Ellen was predeceased by her beloved husband Roy G. Berkeley, a writer, a folksinger, a teacher of American history through folk music, a professional photographer, a deputy sheriff, a certified firearms instructor, and a wonderful companion; by their formerly feral cats Turtle (the tortoiseshell), April, Leona, and Roscoe (the rascal); also by her accomplished brother Roger. She is survived by two nieces, a nephew, and many cousins, friends, colleagues, and students. Her optimistic outlook, her generosity, her easy smile, and her cheerful voice will be missed, as will her ability to write and teach with memorable clarity.
Burial at the Center Shaftsbury Cemetery will be private. A time for visitation and sharing of memories of Ellen will be held at Mahar Funeral Home in Bennington, VT on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm.
If desired, contributions honoring Ellen's memory may be made to Oldcastle Theatre Company, the Manchester Music Festival, or to the Bennington Rescue Squad through the offices of Mahar Funeral Home in Bennington, VT.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Ellen P. Berkeley, please visit our flower store.
Service Schedule
Past Services
Memorial Service
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
2:00 - 3:00 pm (Eastern time)
Mahar Funeral Home and Cremation Services
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