Aloysius Bergin

A Life Celebration will be held on Saturday, September 8th for Aloysius “Al” James Bergin, 68, a social worker, financial advisor and entrepreneur of Penllyn, who passed away on Friday, August 31st. Al was the son of Aloysius and Rita Bergin and grew up on Woodlawn Avenue in the Germantown section of Philadelphia.  As a young boy, Al lost his sister, Rita Virginia to a form of leukemia and also lost his father at the age of 19.  He and his mother, Rita, spent much time in the Wilkes Barre and Stroudsburg area with his uncles, aunts and cousins.  He adopted his cousins and many lifelong friends as his surrogate sisters and brothers.   He is a graduate of both LaSalle College High School and LaSalle University. In high school Al excelled on both the fields of play and in the arts as a member of LaSalle’s football team and as an actor and performer in a number of LaSalle’s theatre programs. Al played the lead role in the senior year play at La Salle High, portraying the part made famous by Groucho Marx in the memorable show “Room Service.” And he recruited a lot of his football buddies to audition for parts, often with hilarious results.   In college and beyond, Al continued both his love for sports and the arts by playing competitive tennis and winning many local singles and doubles tournaments, while also providing personal tennis lessons where he met his first wife, Nancy Bergin (nee Glatz).  Al continued to please audiences through his performance at the Mayfair house in a production of “The Fantasticks”, where he delighted audiences with his portrayal of the old Shakespearean Actor. In addition to Al’s athletic and performing roles, he had a passion for helping those less fortunate or those in need.  This led to Al’s earliest career as a social worker where he worked and lived at an area group home on the weekends while being employed at the GreenTree School during the week.  Al’s passion for an equal playing field and civil and equal rights was a core part of his person and up until his passing his email signature line read, “Charity attempts to remedy today what justice could have prevented yesterday”. Following Al’s time in social work he entered the financial services industry to continue his life’s work of helping others.  Al worked for a handful of firms before leaving to start his own firm that would later become part of AllState Financial Services and subsequently, New York Life.  Al was also a successful entrepreneur launching a number of small businesses and also known for being an owner, with long-term mentor and business partner Gene Caffrey, of the Flourtown Swim Club on Bethlehem Pike, in Flourtown. Al always remained committed to helping others through his work with a number of local charities and also through serving as a Board Member for the Bethesda Project.  While Al saw much success as an athlete, a performer and in his career, where he truly excelled in life was as a husband to Marge, a father, a son, a cousin and friend to so many.   Al met his wife Margaret “Marge” Hennelly Bergin (nee O’Mara) in 1999 after being introduced by his lifelong friend, Margaret “Maggie” Dougherty (nee Brown).  The two wed in 2001 at a beautiful ceremony at the Knowlton Mansion.  Al and Marge both brought three children to the marriage, Sean, Erin and Ryan from Al’s first marriage and Amy, Jamie and Joe from Marge’s first marriage.  The families hit it off from day one and have been incredibly close ever since, a true testament to the deep and instructive love demonstrated by Al and Marge day in and day out. Al and Marge, and at times all six children, traveled the world together and with friends on many cruises and European site seeing tours.  The couple lived in Huntingdon Valley until more recently moving to the Georgetown development in Penllyn. Aloysius James Bergin passed away after battling colon and liver cancer for more than 4 years.  Approximately 2 years ago Al and Marge were told the cancer was incurable and that he may only have weeks or months to live.  Al continued to soldier on with the daily care of the love of his life, Marge, without even the hint of a complaint and even lesser traces of self-pity.  Just as his love and marriage to Marge was instructive, his battle with this terrible disease echoed one of Al’s favorite saying that “the only disability in life is a bad attitude”.   He is survived by his wife, Marge, their children Amy Hennelly, Jamie Hennelly, Sean Bergin (Megan), Erin Carey (Matt)(nee Bergin), Joe Hennelly (Susie) and Ryan Bergin along with 7 grandchildren: Niamh, Audrey, Luke, Emma, Claire, Jack and Odhran.  Al is also survived by many cousins and lifelong friends.  Relatives and friends are invited to gather on Saturday 9/8 from 10am-11:30pm for a Visitation followed by a Life Celebration from 11:30am-1pm at Flourtown Country Club, 150 McCloskey Road, Flourtown, PA 19031.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations in his memory to the Bethesda Project, Development Department, 1630 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146.