BY LINDA JUMP, FLORIDA TODAY
May 7, 2005
PALM BAY – A memorial fund has been established for the four hearing-impaired children of a deaf Palm Bay couple slain in Pennsylvania earlier this week.
Steven and Marilyn Bergman were shot and killed, and Marilyn’s brother Thomas Simich Jr., who also is deaf, is accused of killing them after a family dispute over the sale of their parents’ home.
Donations for their children, Eric Bergman, 23, of Melbourne; Amelia “Amy” Bergman, 19, who attends a Florida college; Ryan Bergman, 18, who attends the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine; and Britta, 15, who attends the National Deaf Academy in Mount Dora can be sent care of the Washington Mutual Bank, 115 Palm Bay Road N.E., West Melbourne, FL 32904.
Virginia Bergman, Steven’s mother, said the couple’s 25th wedding anniversary would have been June 7. “They complemented each other and did everything together,” she said.
She said the two were active with the Deaf Ministry at Ascension Catholic Church in Melbourne, and her son, a retired postal clerk, enjoyed weightlifting, fishing and carpentry. “He built his own shed,” she said.
Marilyn ran Marilyn’s Superior Cleaning Service.
One of Marilyn’s clients for five years was Carol Hoffman of Indialantic. “The language barrier was always there, but she was a lovely person,” she said.