Frederick E. Berry (December 20, 1949 – November 13, 2018) was a disability rights advocate and Democratic

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, who served as a member of the

Massachusetts Senate The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the st ...

from 1983 to 2013. He served as majority leader of the state Senate from 2003 until his retirement in 2013.

Biography

Frederick E. Berry was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, on December 20, 1949. He was a graduate of Bishop Fenwick High School,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

(in 1972) and

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

, M. Ed. (1974). After graduating from college, Berry joined

VISTA Vista may refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) a medical records system of the United States ...

. He was assigned to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he worked with several nonprofits over a 15-month period. Born with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

, Berry returned to Massachusetts and became the director of Heritage Industries, a division of Northeast Arc, which provided employment and job training for those with disabilities. Before his election to the Senate, Berry was a Peabody City Council member (1979–1983) Berry, representing Essex County in the State Senate from 1983, was previously Second Assistant Majority Floor Leader (1991–1994) and Assistant Majority Floor Leader (1995–1996), before becoming Majority Leader himself in 2003. Berry retired from the Senate in 2013. In his retirement, Berry returned to work part-time at Northeast Arc as an ambassador to area businesses. Berry died on November 13, 2018, at the age of 68.

References

Senator Frederick E. Berry – Legislature websiteWicked Local - Topsfield
1949 births 2018 deaths Members of the Peabody City Council (Massachusetts) Antioch College alumni Boston College alumni Democratic Party Massachusetts state senators Massachusetts city council members Bishop Fenwick High School (Peabody, Massachusetts) alumni 20th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court 21st-century members of the Massachusetts General Court {{Massachusetts-MASenate-stub

Biography

See also

References