Richard Albert Berard

“Give me a problem and I’ll hand you a solution.” Those who knew Richard Albert Berard would agree that that motto accurately described him. Richard was a man of great drive and a very original, independent thinker. For Richard, no challenge was impossible, and just about any desired result was within his grasp. Richard placed great trust in his intuition. Since that intuition generally led him in the right direction, who was he to doubt it.

Richard was born on December 16, 1934 in Spring Valley, Illinois. He was the son of Ann and Albert Berard. His childhood found him in Joliet, Illinois where he matured into the independent person he eventually became.

Richard grew up with three siblings. He had two brothers, Dan and David and one sister, Phyllis (Sally). Richard could be seen as being stubborn by his siblings. It was important to him that he was perceived as “right” when it came to his part in those typical family spats. However, this quality did not over power his caring for his family. This ability to balance his family, with his need to be seen as right, helped him to develop into a young adult while enjoying many good times with his family.

During his grade school years, Richard was a very focused and serious student who actually enjoyed the challenge of many classroom problems. He was determined to succeed, and he drew upon his gifts of trust and perseverance to provide him with a competitive edge. While his first love might have been academics, Richard took part in sandlot baseball and was a newspaper boy. Richard delighted in projects that required planning, critical thinking and resolution. Richard's memorable achievements included learning to read before kindergarten because he thought he was supposed to and was surprised when they started teaching reading. He was a hard worker, had three paper routes.

During high school, Richard was relentless in his pursuit of learning, especially in those subject areas that really grabbed hold of his interests. It wasn't that he didn't put forth his best efforts in all classes, but if a subject really interested him, he would eagerly put forth extra effort to learn all he could. Richard graduated from Joliet Catholic High School in 1952. His favorite class in high school was Math. He won a scholarship to Joliet Junior College.

Richard's inventive side developed as he moved into his college years. When Richard found himself involved in an area that particularly interested him, he could organize and complete any task that was given to him and make it look as if he hadn't really needed to put forth any effort. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana. He also pursued graduate school, earning his Masters in Electrical Engineering. Richard had polio from 1959 to 1960 and made a complete recovery.

Richard was loyal to his friends. He found that he was most in tune with people who had similar interests and thought about things much the way that he did. Richard sometimes had a tendency to be critical in his friendships but he was more interested in finding out what was right in a situation rather than in being mean toward others. He never intentionally set out to hurt any of his friends. Richard was a person who challenged others to fend for themselves and to be original in their thinking and evaluation of the outside world. Later in life, he became friends with Wally and Marilyn Steinert, Father Walter Mattiato and Father Eric Lewis.

On June 10, 1961, Richard exchanged wedding vows with Mary Louise Furdek at Sts. Cyril and Methodious of Joliet, Illinois. Mary Louise's sensitivity to Richard's needs proved to be a wonderful influence on this man, who preferred to live in his “gut.” Mary Louise's influence brought Richard to a new emotional level, one that eventually enhanced all of his other gifts and abilities. Mary Louise was able to help Richard appreciate the fact that others made contributions and Richard became better at interacting with those around him. Because of this, Richard grew as a person.

Richard often neglected his own feelings in order to give to others. This was very true when it came to how he dealt with his children. He was able to hand on to each child a number of strong values. He taught them to appreciate their abilities, gave them a desire to persevere despite obstacles and set within them a drive to succeed. He had three children, one daughter, Lori and two sons, Ken and Rick. He also had four grandchildren, Adam, Julia, Cameron and Steven. They were always aware of how much Richard loved them.

During Richard's professional working years, he was at his best when working independently. It became the hallmark of his performance. Richard was generally able to refocus his drive and determination and readily work toward finding a way to get things done that was beneficial to himself and his co-workers. His primary occupation was Electrical Engineer. He was employed for 42 years by Aerojet, General Dynamics and the Naval Civil Service .

For Richard, his outside interests and hobbies became another exercise in learning and mastering areas that interested him. He greatly enjoyed unraveling the "hows" and "whys" that lay behind his hobbies. Richard was always pushing himself to learn more and to stretch his knowledge base even further. He firmly believed that the more things that he knew the more control he would have over things. His favorite pursuits were reading and learning.

Watching his favorite sporting events by himself was never a problem for Richard. It allowed him to indulge in his own individual interpretation of the event. It was not uncommon for Richard to know what the right play or move “should have been,” and he would vocally address these feelings even if there was no one around to hear them. And if there were others around, he would still state his feelings and gladly debate anyone on their opposing views. Recreational sports included bowling. He enjoyed following his favorite sporting events. Tops on his list were football and basketball.

Richard placed his interest wholeheartedly behind any project he took on. The “engineer” part of his personality pushed him to find out as much information as he could, to understand the practicality in a given situation. This was something that influenced his involvement in work, pleasure and volunteer activities. Richard was involved in serving on committees for the Little League as a coach and board member serving as Treasurer and President.

Richard's faith allowed him to better appreciate the gifts and opinions of others. This deepening aspect of his life helped him to accept his own feelings to a greater degree. He was a member of the Catholic Church. During that time, he was CCD teacher.

Richard's skepticism was visible when he found it necessary to place too much trust in one person. This was never clearer than when it was time for him to schedule a vacation or period of time away from his regular schedule. Richard loved the research aspects of planning a trip, but the actual process of relaxing was far more difficult. Still, he did manage to enjoy some time away. Favorite vacations included traveling to Italy.

When Richard's retirement finally came in 1999, he was ready. He worked out many of the details in advance so that he could enjoy the time and not have to worry.

Richard Albert Berard passed away on March 12, 2011 at Citrus Valley Hospice in West Covina. He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou, his children, Lori, Ken and Rick, his grandchildren, Adam, Julia, Cameron and Steven, his sister Sally and brother Dan. Services were held at St. Louise de Marillac Church in Covina, California.

Richard Albert Berard was always drawn to what was measurable, practical and factual. He was a very competent person who expected competence from others. He could be headstrong and certain about the way things were suppose to be. He was determined in every aspect of his life and certain that he was usually right about things. He trusted his intuition over all else, even if it opposed the popular belief, and he had faith in his inner vision and speculations. He wanted to be acknowledged by others as having made a contribution to whatever he was working on. His family and friends will miss his fierce determination, relentless innovations and analytic mind. He leaves with all those who knew him many wonderful memories.