Philip Berke Obituary

Mr. Philip A. Berke, 96, of Madison died Sunday at home. Funeral services are Tuesday, Feb. 2, at noon in the Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, 68 Old Short Hills Rd., Livingston, with interment in the Riverside Cemetery, Rochelle Park. Born in Russia, Mr. Berke came to the United States, at the age of 9, and lived in Newark, Irvington, and then Millburn for many years before moving to Madison 33 years ago. A graduate of Irvington High School, he received his bachelors, master's, and Ph.D., all in biology, from New York University. Mr. Berke was the founder and president of Sutton Laboratories in Roselle, and later in Chatham, a biochemical company. He held numerous patents and had authored many publications in the chemical and cosmetics fields, and was a member of the American Chemical Society, and the Cosmetic Chemical Association. Mr. Berke leaves his wife, Jacqueline (nee Rosen); a daughter, Laura Berke and her husband, Frank Murphy; a son, Matthew Berke and his wife, Edie; grandchildren, Katie Brumberger and her husand, Brett, and Annie Berke, and a great-granddaughter, Emma Brumberger. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study at Drew University in Madison, N.J.