Roger Carlton Bergstrom

Obituary for Roger “Pearl” Bergstrom

11/1/1929 – 1/20/2020

Roger “Pearl” Bergstrom died from the flu and heart disease at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Monday, January 20, 2020.  Roger was an active 90-year-old and had retired to Santa Fe after many years in Arlington, Virginia.  His partner of 30 years, Barry Baltzley, was at his side.

Roger was born in Rhinelander, a small city in northern Wisconsin, on November 1, 1929.  So, he was a “Depression baby,” born just a few days after the October 1929 stock market crash which ushered in the Great Depression.  He was small for his age when he started school.  He recalled walking to school in the winter when the snow was piled so high to either side that all he could see was the narrow, shoveled path he was walking on and the sky above.  He attended the University of Wisconsin-Superior.  In the summers, he worked as an assistant cook aboard Great Lakes ore boats, which were working vessels that carried iron ore from Minnesota to the steel mills.  This began Roger’s lifelong love of cooking and fine dining.

Roger completed his B.A. with college exemptions from the draft, but upon his graduation, he knew it was time to enlist or be drafted, as the Korean Conflict was taking place.  He decided to volunteer for the United States Air Force, and he soon shipped out to Korea.  Since he was an excellent typist, Roger was assigned to a typing pool when he got to Korea.  According to Roger, the motto of the typing pool was, “We don’t retreat, we backspace.”

After his four years of military service, he applied to the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, to get a master’s degree.  He remembered being interviewed by Father Gilbert Hartke, the so-called “show-biz priest,” who had founded CUA’s department of speech and drama, one of the first university drama programs in the nation.  Roger wondered whether CUA would admit a Baptist preacher’s kid from the Midwest to one of their master’s programs.  They did, no problem, and in 1959, Roger was awarded a Master of Fine Arts specializing in theatre and film.  He taught English, drama, and advanced placement/accelerated courses at high schools in Virginia for many years, specifically in the City of Alexandria and, later, in Fairfax County.  Roger was pleased to have the opportunity, in 2012, to congratulate former student Angus King on the occasion of his election as US Senator from Maine.

During his teaching years, Roger supplemented his teacher’s salary by working  weekends and summers as a salesclerk for the upscale men’s clothier Britches of Georgetowne, which was founded in 1967.  Upon retiring from teaching, Roger became full time at Britches.  At the request of the owner of the Britches stores, Mr. Rick Hindin, Roger wrote a manual and set up a training program for the store’s salesclerks, to help in meeting the expectations of the kind of clientele that a high-end men’s clothier attracts.  This led to Mr. Hindin hiring Roger to be majordomo at his home on Chain Bridge Road in McLean, Virginia, a position Roger greatly enjoyed because it gave him scope for his gourmet cooking talents.

In 1984, Roger had joined the relatively new Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW), and for the next 22 years he found great satisfaction in helping GMCW to carry out its mission of changing hearts and minds through music.

By the fall of 1989, Roger had adopted his signature identity.  At the GALA Choral Festival in Seattle that summer, a young singer from New Orleans flirted with Roger by putting a string of Mardi Gras pearls around his neck.  Roger became “Pearl” and typically wore a string of real pearls at Chorus events for the rest of his life.

Over the years, Pearl landed numerous leading roles that showcased his many musical and dramatic talents.  Some memorable ones include Auntie Em in the GMCW all-male version of “The Wizard of Oz”; “Pearl Ives” in a holiday show, dressed as a spitting image of the snowman portrayed by Burl Ives in a famous animated TV special; Ship of Pearl; Phyllis Diller, complete with long cigarette holder and one-liners; and a hilarious impersonation of First Lady Bess Truman.  Within the chorus, Pearl could be counted on to be a costume hit at any party and during the fall campout retreat of the chorus.  He was fun-loving, with a distinctive laugh for all to enjoy.

Most amazing was Roger’s compassion and love.  At the height of the AIDS epidemic, he volunteered to lead the Chorus Care Corps in making countless home, doctor, and hospital visits to help relieve the suffering of the many members of GMCW who were afflicted with this disease.  For this work he was inducted into the GMCW Circle of Excellence in 1996.

Roger’s devotion to GMCW expressed itself in numerous ways, in addition to his work with the Chorus Care Corps.  He co-chaired the “ad team” that persuaded more than 100 local businesses to support the chorus with program advertising.  He developed the travel specifications for GMCW’s first foreign tour to Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm.  In recognition of this work, he was honored in 2005 with the Harmony Award, GMCW’s highest honor for long-time outstanding contributions to the mission of the chorus.

At its year-end party, GMCW also gives out Crystal Awards for various funny, embarrassing, and heroic moments in the previous year.  One of Roger’s Crystal Awards celebrated the time he was stuck in a small elevator with fellow singers.  Roger was wearing that large “Pearl Ives” snowman costume at the time.

Pearl and his partner Barry Baltzley experienced much enjoyable travel during their life together, including:  Chile and Peru, with time at Machu Picchu; the Greek Islands and Israel; Western Europe; and most recently, a cruise vacation on the Baltic Sea with an unforgettable private tour of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 2006, Pearl and Barry moved from the Washington, DC area to Rainbow Vision in Santa Fe, New Mexico for retirement.  Rainbow Vision was the first LGBT-oriented retirement community in the nation to be completed.  Pearl continued to express his love of music by singing for a time with the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus and by volunteering with the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.

In 2008, when same-sex marriage rights were beginning to be recognized in many States across the country, Pearl and Barry visited Palm Springs and exchanged their vows at Palm Springs City Hall in a ceremony officiated by then-Mayor Steve Pougnet.

Pearl is survived by his husband, Barry Baltzley; son Eric Christopher (Anne), of Tampa, Florida; daughter Jenni Treadwell, of Richmond, Virginia; grandchildren Lindsey, Shawn, and Lara; and two great-grandchildren.

Roger’s ashes will repose in the columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery.  The date of the military funeral ceremony at Arlington, and of a Celebration of Life for Roger the Pearl, will be announced at a later time.

Donations in honor of Roger “Pearl” Bergstrom may be made to the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC, 1140 Third Street, NE, 2nd floor, Washington, DC 20002, phone (202) 293-1548, website http://www.gmcw.org

Condolences may be sent online to Barry Baltzley via email at bwb22201@comcast.net.