Robert (Bob) Carl Bergh

Bob was born to the late architect, Carl Bergh and the late Pearl Cumberledge Bergh, on May 20th, 1930. He grew up in Cranford NJ, Conneaut Lake Pennsylvania, and in the Wilmington area of North Carolina. He graduated from Cranford High School and completed a program at Union Junior College in NJ. As a youngster, he enjoyed boating and building and flying model airplanes. He enjoyed snow skiing especially with his daughter Virginia. He always loved the sea! He was a water skier and a body surfer in a class of his own! He could catch a wave and ride it out longer and further than anyone else! He caught everyone’s attention with his torpedo-like style and his ability to pop his head out of the wave when it crested.

Bob enlisted in the U.S. Army and trained as a radio-operator in the Korean War. When he returned home, he entered a job as a draftsman engineer at Stavid Engineering in Plainfield NJ. Bob married Marie Picone in 1956. Lockheed acquired Stavid where Bob continued to work. In the mid-1960s, Lockheed sent Bob on a special project to Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland to work on Project Mercury, the first manned space flight program and other manned space projects including Gemini and Apollo. Bob was part of the tracking and data engineers who were responsible for the communication network to support manned space flight. Once the project was completed Bob returned to Lockheed in NJ.

In the 1970s, Bob’s wife Marie, began the general contracting, custom home building business, Bergh Homes. The business began to flourish and she needed assistance, so Bob left Lockheed to draw house plans and assist with the daily construction of homes in the Hunterdon County area. By the late 1980s, Marie and Bob of Bergh Homes designed and constructed many fine and unique custom homes and four communities.

Bob was always intrigued by innovation and built a solar panel in the 1970s to heat a room of the house. He enjoyed tinkering in his garage and purchased several old John Deere tractors and brought them back into service, giving them a new paint job and new life! He did the same with a few Karmann Ghia, Fiats, and Porsche cars, as well as a Jersey Speed Skiff boat. He even resurrected a boardwalk go-kart that his daughter Virginia enjoyed zooming around the yard in!

Bob loved the many family pets over the years—dogs, horses, and cats. The dog, Penny, even took car rides in the Fiat convertible with him — her beautiful red ears flapping in the breeze, neighbors would ask, “Who was the red-head riding in the car with you, Bob?”

Although Bob did not play any instruments himself, he was fond of jazz and especially certain artists such as cornet player, Wild Bill Davison and clarinet player Pete Fountain.

Bob and Marie were avid boaters who owned several boats throughout the years. In the 1980s and early 1990s, they owned a condo in Manatee Pocket, Stuart Florida and a cruising boat on which they would spend winters in Florida and the Bahamas and summers on the Jersey shore, all the while maintaining their home in Readington NJ.

More than anything else, Bob loved his family. He was a loving and supportive husband and father. Together with Marie, Jan and Jinny had an idyllic childhood filled with fun, joy, and love.

Bob is survived by his wife of 64 years, Marie, his daughters Janet Williams (and her husband Steven Williams) of Hatfield Massachusetts, Virginia Naevestad (and her husband Glenn Naevestad) of Frenchtown NJ, grand-daughter Kalani Williams of Hatfield Massachusetts, and Bob’s sister Constance Hart of Bricktown NJ.

A memorial service will be scheduled in May 2021. Arrangements are under the direction of the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ.

In honor of Bob, in lieu of flowers, please consider donating to The Gary Sinise Foundation (Veterans), PO Box 368, Woodland Hills, CA 91365 (www.GarySiniseFoundation.org) or to St. Huberts Animal Welfare Center, PO Box 159, Madison, NJ 07940 (www.StHuberts.org).

For further information or to leave an online condolence, please visit www.holcombefisher.com.