Centenarian: Ernestine V. Berson

Ernestine V. Berson was born April 11, 1911, in Brooklyn. She graduated from Erasmus Hall High School and Columbia Business School. She worked on Wall Street until she lost her job at the time of the stock market crash of 1929. In 1931 she married Jacob Berson and had one daughter, Andrea. Ernestine opened the Betty Hat Shop on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, which sold custom-made hats for $3. She lived in Long Beach for more than 50 years before moving to Lawrence, where she lived for 13 years. Ernestine was widowed in 1991. She has lived at The Bristal Assisted Living at North Woodmere for the past 7 years where she enjoys visits from her daughter, son-in-law, Howard, two grandchildren, Fredi and Jon, and four great-grandsons.