TALA's Bob Berg Dies at 86
Longtime Los Angeles textile executive Robert E. Berg passed away on Aug. 17 in Petersborough, N.H. He was 86.
Berg was the executive director of the Textile Association of Los Angeles (TALA) from 1990 to 1999, a post he assumed after retiring from the textile industry, where he held top spots at Los Angeles-based Presidents’ Fabrics and New York-based Folker Fabrics Corp.
The New Jersey native got his start in finance. He received a degree from the American Institute of Banking in New York and held fellowship positions at the New York Stock Exchange and the National Institute of Credit.
He joined Folker Fabrics in the 1950s, rising to vice president and then president of the firm.
Berg moved to Los Angeles in 1973 to join Presidents’ Fabrics and quickly enmeshed himself in the local textile and apparel industry.
He served as TALA president from 1983–84 and was named TALA member of the year in 1995. He was a member of the California Mart board of governors, initially served as a TALA spokesperson at the formation of the California Fashion Association (CFA) and was a member of the Coalition of the Apparel Industry of California, an industry organization that preceded the CFA.
An avid golfer, Berg was a member of the Bel Air Golf Club and served as chairman of the club’s membership committee.
Berg’s commitment to TALA and Los Angeles’ textile industry was recognized by past members of the textile and apparel industry at his retirement luncheon in 1999.At the event, former TALA president Robert Kennedy noted Berg’s “calm everyday courtesy”—a combination of ethics and etiquette—and designated Berg TALA’s “ambassador-at-large.”
Before receiving a standing ovation from the assembled crowd, Berg joked, “This is a very nice affair; I’ll be happy to repeat it next year.”
In Berg’s honor, the organization renamed its biannual golf and tennis event the Bob Berg Invitational TALA Play Day.
“I personally have lost a very close and dear friend,” said Hal Kaltman, former president of TALA and owner of Hal Kaltman Textiles. “He was a man I looked up to, who taught me, who almost served as a surrogate father. We are all devastated by the loss.”
Berg’s name has been added to the Ruth Bregman memorial wall on the California Mart’s second floor.
Berg is survived by daughters Patricia Boyd and Brenda May; sons-in-law Robert Boyd and Dr. John May; grandchildren Brenda Cannon, Stacy and Jeffrey May, Michael, Anne and, Robert Boyd; and great-grandchildren Margeaux and Julia Cannon and Taylor and Evan Boyd.
A memorial service will be held for Berg in early September.
Contributions can be made to the TALA scholarship fund in Berg’s name, 110 E. 9th St., Suite C-765, Los Angeles, CA 90079. —Alison A. Nieder
