Toni

Toni Berger died a little over a week ago.  Michele and I went to the funeral home last Friday out of great respect for this woman.  When we arrived, we saw a long line to the one room and none to the other.  Because we knew how much Toni had meant to education in Fort Wayne, we assumed that the long line was for her.  When we reached the place to sign in, I noticed that the name was not Toni's.  We scanned the room to find no one whom we knew.

After finding the right room, I was immediately saddened by so few people there.  I did start to rationalize that this was the second showing of the day and that the funeral would be on Saturday.  What really hit me hard was the fact that even though Toni had been a vital force for a long time in Fort Wayne Community Schools, it had been almost twenty years since she was fully active.  The phrase "how quickly we forget" enveloped me.

You see, Toni was a PTA mom.  It sounds so simple, but when you delve into her resume, you see the importance of a PTA mom.  Granted, she was a PTA mom on speed!  She was active on each level as her children grew up in the school system.  She was president of the PTA at North Side even after she no longer had children at North.  She was president of the FWCS district PTA and the state PTA.  She won awards for her activism for children.  In her most active years, everyone knew her name.

My wife got to know Toni when she herself was active in the PTA at Harris Elementary.  She too was president of that school's PTA.  We laughed about the fact that her work in PTA was a full time job.  Toni and Michele proved that it was, but there was no pay.  It didn't matter, because they both knew that there was work to be done, and someone had to do it.  They both made their schools stronger due to their dedication to the staff and students there.

I met with Toni and the other PTA board members as a part of my job as assistant principal at North.  Those meetings were intense because this board wasn't just going through the motions.  They insisted that when things needed to get done; they would get done.  Through those meetings and committee work in which Toni and I were involved, I really got to know Toni better.  The thing that I want you to know about her is that there was no hidden agenda.  There was no ulterior motive.  It was for the kids and North Side.

When I became principal at Jefferson Middle School, I inherited a PTA that was slightly dysfunctional.  The president had good intentions, but follow through and adherence to PTA rules was less than perfect.  Of course, I contacted Toni to ask for help.  She was in my office that afternoon.  She mapped out a plan and sat with me and the president to make sure that the plan was understood and implemented.  From that day until the day that I retired, that PTA was fully functional and one of the best in the area.

North Side now has an alumni scholarship in Toni Berger's name.  We should.  For what she gave to North Side, FWCS, and the children of our area, it seems so little.  More people should have been at the funeral home.  More should have been written about her in the paper.  She deserved more.  Rest in peace Toni, your job on Earth is done.  And we are all better for you being a part of our lives.