Richard Avald Bergman of Provincetown died at the Village at Rancho Solano Memory Care facility in Fairfield, Calif. on July 8, 2024. No cause of death was given. He was 76.
The son of the late Jane and Robert Bergman, Richard was born on Feb. 17, 1948 in Greensburg, Pa. He grew up in Irwin, Pa. in a close family of seven siblings. According to his sister Leslie, he was a great reader and a straight A student. He graduated from Norwin High School in 1966.
At Indiana University in Pennsylvania, Richard studied Spanish. “I also met my partner at IUP,” Richard wrote in the alumni magazine. “I had never known I was a gay man until I met him.” He heard there was a guy who played Barbra Streisand in the dorm all the time, and Richard said, “I want to meet him.” He and Ed Ratajczak clicked; they remained partners for the rest of their lives.
Richard and Ed moved to Philadelphia. Finding the prospect of teaching Spanish in the Philadelphia schools daunting, Leslie said, Richard took a job with the Public Welfare Dept.
Because of his knowledge of Spanish, his first assignment was as a case worker making home visits in North Philadelphia. He was promoted to training supervisor. “He was a dedicated worker and very compassionate,” said co-worker Fred Bostwick. He became training manager before he retired in 2011.
Richard vacationed many summers in Provincetown, where he felt at home. In the 1980s and ’90s, he and Ed owned a condo, but after a vacation in Hawaii, they decided to sell and take long vacations in Hawaii.
Richard’s love of Provincetown remained strong. Back in Philadelphia, Leslie said, Richard covered the walls of his home from floor to ceiling with pictures of Provincetown.
The pair settled in Wallingford, Pa. and traveled together often, to Spain because of Richard’s Spanish and to Poland because of Ed’s heritage. They also went on cruises and spent many Christmases in Hawaii. Ed died in 2015.
Richard mourned Ed’s death for the rest of his own life, said Leslie. He made multiple collages of Ed’s image in different media, and he was determined to spend his final years in Provincetown.
In 2021, he bought a condo at Seashore Point, to live where he would have a view of the Pilgrim Monument from his window. Richard loved to visit Outer Cape lighthouses and he substituted his passion for coffee shops with a passion for lobster rolls, always on the lookout for a better one. Even when he was living in Philadelphia, Fred said, “we would go to the Knock, a gay bar, together. He was always happy when they had lobster rolls on the menu.”
Richard moved to California to be near his sister. His niece Jill made Richard happy by following in his footsteps, working for the Sacramento County Dept. of Human Assistance.
Richard is survived by his siblings Robert Bergman Jr. of Tucson, Ariz., Leslie Bergman-Hutson of Fairfield, Calif., Margaret Rasmussen of Flagstaff, Ariz., Albert Bergman of Jeanette, Pa., and Kevin Bergman of Madison, Pa.; 11 nieces and nephews; many great-nieces and -nephews; and several great-great-nieces and -nephews.
Richard was predeceased by his partner, Ed Ratajczak, and his sister Gwen Jacobson.
A celebration of Richard’s life was held on July 19, 2024 in Fairfield, Calif.
