Page 8 - David Bermant Foundation

David was born in New York City, grew up in Manhattan, and, at twenty-one, graduated cum laude from Yale University. Six months later, in January 1941, he volunteered to join the U.S. Army. Starting as a private, he ended his army career as a major of artillery in Patton’s Fifth Army, earning a bronze star with an oak leaf cluster for his actions. In 1947, he married Ruth Josephson, and they had four children: Ann, Jeffrey, Wendy, and Andrew. After forty-six years, they were divorced. David then married Susan Hopmans and they established a home in Santa Barbara as well as in the Santa Ynez Valley. Here he created facilities for and maintained a large collection of the art he felt was so significant.I knew David Bermant as a man who had a great capacity for enjoying the material as well as the aesthetic pleasures of life. A connoisseur of food and wine, he once flew to Paris to participate in a special gourmet event and flew back within twenty-four hours. He delighted in fine cigars until he realized that good health would be an even greater pleasure.David could be tough when circumstances required, but his sense of humor was never absent. Even during his terminal illness, he was able to make wry jokes about the situation. A vital part of his personal philosophy came from discussions he had had with a Yale professor he admired, F.S.C. Northrop. They pondered the big questions of what is “right,” what is “wrong,” and what is “truth.” In a letter summarizing the conclusions he reached, he wrote to me: “I think one can find truthfor one’s time. One can find right and wrong for one’s time. Maybe none of these are eternal, but they are to be found. I’m going to try to seek out the truth as long as I live and always tell the truth as long as I live, not only to others but mostly to myself. I will never lie.”Staying true to that difficult agenda may well be a bit part of the reason for his long, happy, and successful life.Left to right:DWB................DWB with Dad & brother ................DWB at bar mitzvah ................DWB with parents ................DWB in U.S. Army7