Sol Berg *48

Sol Berg, a business entrepreneur and philanthropist, died July 4, 2017, of metastatic melanoma at age 92.

Born in Poland in 1924, Berg and his family moved to Belgium in 1927. In 1941, they escaped Nazi-occupied Belgium and settled in New York City. He graduated from the City College in 1946 after serving in the Army in World War II. In 1948, he earned a master’s degree in chemical engineering from Princeton.

Unable to find employment in the chemical industry, he joined with several business partners and eventually started an instant-coffee plant in Queens, N.Y. Later, he successfully traded in commodities, mostly coffee and sugar. In 1974, Berg bought the New York Sets, a professional tennis team, changed its name to the New York Apples, signed Billie Jean King and Virginia Wade, and won the league championship in 1976 and 1977.

He was a supporter of such organizations as Hebrew University of Jerusalem, micro-financing projects in Africa, a community of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel, and Doctors Without Borders. In 2010, he moved to a retirement community in Amherst, Mass., where he embraced several local causes.

Berg is survived by his wife, Miriam; two children; eight grandchildren; and one great-grandson. Two children predeceased him.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.