Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 18 November 1993 — Page 4

The Muncie Times, Thursday, 18 November, 1993, Page 4

BCDDV .j r o tUal friend who had deci - ®^*'*'* (Contd from R I) ^ e( j k e was man for me. He kept trying, coming to Muncie, be- rope. I really enjoyed it, until he got us together, cause I had told her that I but I had to return home We had a really short was stopping here tern- because under their visa courtship,” she said. “We porarily, before going on regulations, foreigners met in the fall, he proto California. could not stay in Europe posed at Thanksgiving and “My husband seduced for more than 5 years at a we got married in the me into staying in Muncie, time. spring, where>1 picked up a new “I had completed my “He seduced me. That’s family. But when you talk doctorate at Ball State why I never made it back to him he will probably University in Europe, to California. He gave me say I tricked him because when Ball State promised four other children plus a he says he married me so me a job. I told my daugh- set of new parents. After I could take him to Cali- ter that Muncie was just that I couldn’t leave.” fomia.” outside Chicago. We were Next April the Berrys Berry is sitting in her surprised when we got will celebrate their 17th small but comfortable here and found out where wedding anniversary. Her office at Mental Health Muncie was. husband became the highAssociates of Muncie, 420 , “Being in Muncie be- est-ranking African AmeriW. Washington, as she came quite an adventure, can city official, after reminisces about life in I got here expecting a job, Mayor DavidiDominick America’s hometown. She only to find there was named Walter Berry as is a modest, even self- none. A professonat Ball deputy mayor, effacing woman who was State had a grant which “Ceola is a very peoplecoaxed into granting this would have supported my oriented person. She gives interview, after repeatedly job, but by that time the without getting anything in saying she would rather funding had expired. Ano- return. She’s a totally hide in her husband’s ther professor had pro- caring person when it shadow. mised me the loan of his comes to people,” said Berry was born in Day- car. But by then the car Walter Berry, ton, Ohio, but was raised had been wrecked. “The thing that really in Buffalo, N.Y. She had “Ball State had trailer attracted me to her and been living in Europe with homes and I had been told still attracts me to her is her daughter, Develyn, I could have one. But by that she’s the kind of where she had been direc- the time I got here the person you would want as tor of programs for Big university had decided to a friend. She’s someone to Bend Community College discontinue the trailers. talk to, to confide in. She and, later, education pro- “So here I was, with a is the kind of person you grams administrator in young daughter. I had no would always want to be Germany, before coming job, no car and was find- with, to Muncie. ing out that Muncie was “She’s the kind of person In 1970 she earned a not in the suburbs of Chi- who would rather help bachelor’s degree in social cago.” without recognition. She welfare from California Murphy’s Law says if enjoys it that way.” Baptist College in River- anything can go wrong it side, Calif. For five years will. In Berry’s case every- One of the things she she lived in Riverside, thing that could had gone has been doing is to work while doing an internship wrong. But she did not with African American in nearby San Bernardino give up. Someone offered student athletes at Ball and later working in Loma her the use of an apart- State. She tries to bring Linda, Calif. ment. the parents and the stuAfter that she earned a “Before long, I got a car, dents together with Munmaster’s degree in guid- had somewhere to live, did cie residents, ance and counseling from a post-doctoral program Beth Quarles, her best Ball State University’s here. Then I secured my friend of more than 18 European campus in 1976. license,” she said. years, said for the past Later she earned a doc- A few years later, seven years Mrs. Berry has torate in psychological through the efforts of a been holding brunches at counseling and guidance persistent friend, she was her home for students and services from Ball State’s introduced to Walter Ber- athletes during Ball State’s Muncie and European ry, who would become her Parents Weekend, campuses. husband. “She does this so the “I enjoyed being in Eu- “We met through a mu- minority community can

meet the parents of the football players. Every two or three months she also hosts meetings for black psychologists,” said Quarles. “Her hospitality is out of this world. “Her home is open to all. You can feel comfortable going to her. If you need something she is very helpful. She is a very freehearted, free-spirited woman. “I think her background and her religion help her to help people. I think it’s an honor to know her personally and professionally. Many people do not get that chance. - “She’s a highly motivated African American woman, the kind that all young children and adults can look up to. She has a lot to offer the community. She goes out of her way to touch people, but in a very quiet way. She gets community support and encouragement and is involved in ways that go well beyond her job. “I thank God that we have a woman of color like her in her position that all people can relate to. She works quietly in such a way that her impact may not be realized until years later. She’s also a very, very religious woman. Her favorite song is, ‘I’m no ways tired, Lord.’ Even when she is tired she does not give up.” When Walter and Ceola Berry got married she brought her daughter, Develyn, into the family. He brought Mark, his oldest son, who is with the U.S. Army in South Korea; Sharon, who is with the Indiana Public Schools; Michael, who is with the U.S. Air Force in Iceland (his wife, Patricia, and their children, Joy and Andrea, live in Indianapolis); and Marvin who, with his wife, Sheila, and son, Bradford Allen, is with the U.S. Air Force

and is stationed in Maryland. “I gained an instant family,” Mrs. Berry said. “Our family has really become one> Today you can’t figure out which kids belong to whom. That’s been a true blessing. It’s been a true blessing to gain these children and to have my three grandchildren.” Sharon Berry is a program support teacher in the Indiana Public Schools’ Division of Special Services. She said her step-mother is an example for all black women. “She is an individual who always puts others before herself. Her stamina, amount of effort spent helping others and the time she puts into helping others are attributes not found in many other people. “To me she has always been a mother, a very good mother, even though there were times when I would have wanted her to be a friend. She has always desired to be a mother to all her children. She has been disciplinarian, a good listener, a caring person. Her goals for her children are to have the best for them.” Similar sentiments were echoed by Develyn, who is following the Berry family tradition of going into the armed services. When Develyn, 27, graduates, she will be commissioned into the Air Force. She is studying public relations at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. “She is the only mother I have. I can’t say enough good things about her. We pretty much grew up together after her divorce. She kept things going for us. Then came the remarriage. She is someone that I can talk to about just See BERRY on R 5