Allan David Berman, age 70 , of Ontonagon, Michigan, died Tuesday, April 6, at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in New Braunfels, Texas. Al was born on October 6, 1939, in McCook, Nebraska, to Margaret (London) Berman and H. G. I. Berman.

Al considered Houghton, Michigan, his home town, and he vividly remembered playing for a youth hockey team that won both state and national championships and being student manager for the boys' basketball team that won the Michigan championship in 1955. Through the years he kept in contact with several of his Houghton friends and classmates. When Al was a junior in high school, the family moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and Al graduated from Sheboygan North High School in 1957. He received a Bachelor's degree from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1961 and a Master's degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1969.

Al taught at Palatine High School in Palatine, Illinois for 30 years, and during that time he coached football, baseball and wrestling. Al met his wife, Sally (Snyder) Berman at Palatine High. They always said it was "love in the teachers' lounge" that led to 39 years as best friends and devoted, loving partners.

Al organized and managed the Palatine Holiday Wrestling Tourney for 30 years, and in 1994 the school renamed the tournament the Berman Holiday Wrestling Classic in his honor. He was elected Assistant Wrestling Coach of the Year by the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association in 1984. In 2001, Al was elected to the Illinois Wrestling Hall of Fame, and he and Sally were elected to the Palatine High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2003-2004. Friends and former colleagues all saw Al as a man of great integrity, warmth, empathy, kindness, generosity and gentleness.

Al and Sally retired from teaching in 1994 and moved to their home on the south shore of Lake Superior near Ontonagon, Michigan.

Al is survived by his wife, Sally (Snyder) Berman, his brother, Anthony Berman and sister in law Phyllis (Rabinowitz) Berman of Rochester, Minnesota, his son Andrew Reisman of Manlius, New York, and his son Daniel Reisman, daughter in law Vanna (Grannell) Reisman, grandson Seth Reisman and granddaughter Sara Reisman of Fayetteville, New York.

Al was preceded in death by his father, H. G. I. Berman in 1966, and his mother, Margaret (London) Glazman in 1996.

A memorial service for Al will be held on Saturday, May 1, at the Cane Funeral Home in Ontonagon, Michigan. Internment will be private at a later date. Friends will gather at 4 o'clock p.m. Eastern Daylight time for a 5 o'clock service. In lieu of flowers, donations for the Al Berman memorial scholarship may be made to the Ontonagon Area Scholarship Foundation, PO Box 92, Ontonagon, MI 49953.