Obituary for Grace Esther Berlin
Grace E. Berlin, 62, passed from this life to be with her LORD JESUS June 8, 2023, after a long battle with cancer. Funeral services will begin 3:00 p.m. Thursday, June 15, 2023 at the Strode Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Fairlawn Cemetery. Strode Funeral Home and Cremation is in charge of the arrangements.
Grace was born to Grace F. and K. Darrell Berlin on September 29, 1959, in Gainesville, Florida. The family moved to Stillwater where her father took a faculty position in the Chemistry Department at OSU in September, 1960. Her brother Jim arrived the following year in June, 1961, to complete the family. Grace received her education in the Stillwater public schools, followed by earning a B.S. in mathematics at OSU and then an M.S. in Curriculum & Instruction at OSU in 1982, all accomplished with a GPA of 4.0/4.0. One of her math Professors at OSU informed her parents that "Grace was the best of the best".
Grace accepted a position at the Stillwater Junior High in the fall of 1982 and became the Department Head in 1985. She held this position for 22 years while teaching General Math, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, Geometry, and 8th Grade Advanced Math. She served as the coach of MATHCOUNTS for ten years and led the team to the National Contest in Washington, D. C. in 1987. In the same year she was named Stillwater Junior High Teacher of the Year, Stillwater Teacher of the Year, and became a contestant for the Oklahoma Teacher of that year. She was twice a finalist for the Presidential Award in Mathematics for Oklahoma. Recognition for her teaching occurred when she received the Excellence in Teaching Award for the Oklahoma-Arkansas Section of the Mathematics Association of America in 1988. In 1993 she was named MATHCOUNTS Coach of the year for the Oklahoma Northwest Region. The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics presented Grace with a special Citation Teacher Appreciation Day in 1996.
Her professional memberships included National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Education Association, Oklahoma Education, and Stillwater Education Association. She was an invited speaker by the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1982-1984. From 1984-1990 she was a invited speaker at the Regional Meeting of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
During the last few months of her life she made prayer clothes for many people in Stillwater, including several for her caregivers. She was a very kind and considerate person who made a diligent effort to prepare her Junior High students for High School and for a College/University education. Her high standards equipped many students for University level instruction as several Professors at OSU confirmed.
Grace was born to Grace F. and K. Darrell Berlin on September 29, 1959, in Gainesville, Florida. The family moved to Stillwater where her father took a faculty position in the Chemistry Department at OSU in September, 1960. Her brother Jim arrived the following year in June, 1961, to complete the family. Grace received her education in the Stillwater public schools, followed by earning a B.S. in mathematics at OSU and then an M.S. in Curriculum & Instruction at OSU in 1982, all accomplished with a GPA of 4.0/4.0. One of her math Professors at OSU informed her parents that "Grace was the best of the best".
Grace accepted a position at the Stillwater Junior High in the fall of 1982 and became the Department Head in 1985. She held this position for 22 years while teaching General Math, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, Geometry, and 8th Grade Advanced Math. She served as the coach of MATHCOUNTS for ten years and led the team to the National Contest in Washington, D. C. in 1987. In the same year she was named Stillwater Junior High Teacher of the Year, Stillwater Teacher of the Year, and became a contestant for the Oklahoma Teacher of that year. She was twice a finalist for the Presidential Award in Mathematics for Oklahoma. Recognition for her teaching occurred when she received the Excellence in Teaching Award for the Oklahoma-Arkansas Section of the Mathematics Association of America in 1988. In 1993 she was named MATHCOUNTS Coach of the year for the Oklahoma Northwest Region. The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics presented Grace with a special Citation Teacher Appreciation Day in 1996.
Her professional memberships included National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Education Association, Oklahoma Education, and Stillwater Education Association. She was an invited speaker by the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of Mathematics in 1982-1984. From 1984-1990 she was a invited speaker at the Regional Meeting of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
During the last few months of her life she made prayer clothes for many people in Stillwater, including several for her caregivers. She was a very kind and considerate person who made a diligent effort to prepare her Junior High students for High School and for a College/University education. Her high standards equipped many students for University level instruction as several Professors at OSU confirmed.