Thomas Lee Berger, FASLA
(March 7, 1945 to Sept. 11, 2014)

Thomas Lee Berger was born to Carl and Edith Berger in Crescent City, Calif. He and his six siblings were raised in Brookings, Oregon, but resettled to Port Orchard, Washington. He developed a passion for gardening and design while working for the family's Berger's Garden Center. In 1965, he married his long-time school sweetheart, Mary Middleton.

Thomas earned his bachelor's degree in landscape architecture at Washington State University in Pullman, and began working in the profession in 1968. In 1971, he founded Berger Partnership in Seattle. His first employee, Steve Shea, became a partner and principal and is still with the firm. His upbringing and education instilled in him a love of the Pacific Northwest environment, which strongly influenced his design approach and plant selections. His interest in horticulture led him to own a specialty nursery on Whidbey Island.

Tomas enjoyed the scale and personality of designing private residences, and applied that scale to many of the firm's major projects. He designed parks, golf courses, wineries and public spaces throughout the Pacific Northwest and abroad, including: Two Union Square, Seattle Center Space Needle Plaza, REI Flagship Store and IslandWood on Bainbridge Island.

He was a board member of the Arboretum Bulletin, the Washington Arboretum Foundation and WSU Spokane Interdisciplinary Design Institute. He received awards from ASLA national and the state chapter, the Audubon Society, the Seattle Design Commission and Sunset Magazine. He was elected to the 2006 ASLA Class of Fellows.

The Berger Partnership team remembered him as a "darn good guy," but also as "a friend, mentor, leader, and an inspiration."

Donations can be made in Tom's name to the Seattle Children's Hospital or the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Remembrances may be made at tinyurl.com/mftdckb.