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Mary Berlin

Mary Martha (Miller) Berlin, 78, of Madison, passed away peacefully on Sept. 16, 2024. Mary was born May 2, 1946, daughter of the late Kenneth E. and Sarah J. (Naile) Miller.

Mary was born in Minnesota and spent her early years in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She joined the U.S. Navy in 1966, which took her to California, where she was trained as a dental technician. She was honorably discharged the following year with the birth of her first child. She lived in Japan, where her first husband was stationed during the Vietnam War. After the war, she earned a B.A. in education from the University of Nebraska. She then lived in Ohio before finally moving to Connecticut. She has lived in Madison since 1980, with her husband of 46 years, Edward Berlin. In the early years, Mary helped her husband build his dental practice and later had a thriving bookkeeping business.

Mary was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. She was always the life of the party and a lover of art, culture, music, and nature, and instilled those passions in her children and grandchildren. She was constantly reading and learning new things. She had a lust for life and never wasted a sunset.

One of Mary’s greatest passions was cars, including her Shelby Cobra GT 500, Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce, Subaru WRX, and her several 911s, the latest of which she ran at Lime Rock when she was in her 60s through the Porsche Club. We all loved bragging about how cool she was.

Mary was always creative and took up painting in her later life. She wrote and illustrated two children’s books, one of which earned her recognition as a finalist in Illustrated Picture Book for the 2017 Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Children’s Literature.

More recently, Mary watched over the osprey nest out her window near the Hammonasset River, managed the landscaping at Windermere, led and attended local book clubs, and composed epic paintings of the people and places in her life. Mary loved attending her grandchildren’s little league games, concerts, and recitals, enjoyed going on jazz cruises with her husband, listening to music, traveling to the mountains and the Southwest, and most of all, relaxing at home with a martini enjoying the view of the river and salt marsh.

Mary leaves behind her husband of 46 years, Edward Berlin; her three children and their spouses, Carrie Andreoletti (David Ash), Jessica Baldwin (Jamie Baldwin), and David Berlin (Allison Berlin); her four grandchildren: Malcolm, Nina, Miller and Harvey; her two sisters, Janice Mahaffy and Patricia Aday (Jorge Aday); and her sister-in-law Dorothy Berlin (Michael Harris); along with nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends.

As she wished, there are no calling hours or funeral services. In lieu of flowers, donations in Mary’s name may be made to Doctors Without Borders. A gathering to celebrate and remember Mary’s extraordinary life will be held at a later date. Friends and family will be notified. Details will also be made available at www.swanfh.com.