Andrew R. Berliner

08/30/2002

Andrew R. Berliner, 55, of Division Street died Friday at Fairview Hospital of an apparent heart attack. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Sept. 26, 1946, son of Frances Reichman Berliner Harter of New York City and the late Dr. Abraham Berliner, he attended schools in Great Neck, N.Y. He graduated with honors in 1964 from the former Cornwall Academy and attended Ohio Wesleyan University for a year and the Julliard School of Music in New York, where he majored in piano. Mr. Berliner founded and operated Crystal Recording Studios in Hollywood for more than 25 years. He was an award-winning engineer and producer of more than 100 top 10 records. As a scientist, he worked on research and development of an artificial heart with William DeVries and Michael DeBakey. He held many U.S. patents, including one for an analog switch used on the space shuttle. He moved to Great Barrington in 1994 and had been teaching advanced piano lessons at his home. He obtained his pilot's license from Berkshire Aviation Enterprises under the direction of Walter Koladza. Besides his mother and her husband, Hugh A. Harter of New York, he leaves his wife, the former Elizabeth Gowan, whom he married in Hawaii; three sons, Aaron Berliner and Alex Berliner, both at home, and Ryan Berliner of Los Angeles; three daughters, Carmen Berliner at home, and Sabrina Berliner and Rebecca Berliner, both of Los Angeles; two sisters, Uma Berliner of Hurleyville, N.Y., and Nancy Rudolph of Portsmouth, N.H., and two grandchildren. FUNERAL NOTICE -- Andrew R. Berliner died Aug. 30, 2002. He is survived by his mother, Frances, and her husband, Hugh A. Harter of New York City; his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children, Aaron, 12, Carmen, 8, and Alex, 7, as well as his daughters Rebecca and Sabrina and son Ryan, all of Los Angeles; two grandchildren, Madison and Mason Miranda ; two sisters, Uma Berliner of Hurleyville, N.Y., and Nancy Rudolph and her husband, Albert, of Portsmouth, N.H. The funeral will be conducted Thursday, Sept. 5, at 11 at Guthrie Center on Division Street in Great Barrington by the Rev. Bert Marshall. Burial will follow in Greenlawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends Wednesday, Sept. 4, from 4 to 7 at FINNERTY & STEVENS FUNERAL HOME, Great Barrington. Memorial contributions may be made to the Southern Berkshire Volunteer Ambulance Squad or Fairview Hospital through the funeral home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. Remembrances, memories and reflections may be sent to the family through finnerty@bcn.net .

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