Audrey P. Berkeley Spirit Award
Recipients: 2008 / 2007 / 2006

The Audrey P. Berkeley Spirit Award

The Audrey P. Berkeley Spirit Award celebrates the legacy of its extraordinary namesake by honoring a person who clearly reflects the strong moral character and heartfelt core values Audrey exhibited throughout her life: loving dedication to family and friends, the tenacious pursuit of education and professional achievement, a genuine respect for others with an uncompromising commitment to inclusion and tolerance, a zest for life, and a passion for sports and good sportsmanship.

Audrey Berkeley was born on November 5, 1937 in Omar, West Virginia. She spent the first few years of her life in Proctorville, Ohio before moving to Queens, New York with her parents and three sisters. Audrey was always an excellent student academically. She acquired an appreciation for music through piano and violin lessons at an early age. She graduated from high school at the young age of 16. Because of her tender age, she was not allowed to enroll in nursing school immediately. She eventually attended Brooklyn Jewish Hospital School of Nursing, where she made lifelong friends.

She married Wilbert (Red) Berkeley in 1960 and together they raised two sons, Mark and Michael. She began her nursing career at New Rochelle Hospital (currently known as Sound Shore Medical Center) as an Emergency Room Nurse and over 30+ years was promoted to Medical Surgical Charge Nurse and the Director of Long Term Care and Rehabilitation Nursing. While working full-time during the day, managing a household, and raising two sons, she was able to obtain a Bachelor Degree in Psychology from the College of New Rochelle and a Masters in Psychology from Iona College.

Participants Audrey's passion for sports developed in her childhood years. She was regarded as a "tomboy," playing ball with her male cousins and neighborhood friends. As an adult, she played softball on the New Rochelle Hospital team. She attended most, if not all, of her sons' track meets, baseball, football, and basketball games. She was a regular in the stands cheering her sons along. She was an avid Mets fan throughout the 1980s and mid-1990s and a loyal follower of Tiger Woods in her later years.


Inspired by her son, Michael, she picked up a golf club for the first time at the age of 62 and fell in love with the game of golf. Within a few years, she was able to score in the 80s, an achievement few of us obtain even after a decade of golf lessons and rounds of golf. Similar to Michael, she had a long drive, liked to play a fast game and didnıt waste any time warming up on the driving range before a round...she just wanted to get out there and conquer the course.

Audrey Berkeley was a vibrant woman who fought a remarkable battle with an aggressive form of cancer that would have overcome the majority of people sooner. It was a case of mind over matter, and her un-daunting courage and determination surely gave her the strength to beat the odds for as long as she did. Despite the toll the many treatments took on her body, she never complained of the pain...just wasnıt in her nature.

Audrey made it her number one priority to play in the 2005 MJB Memorial Golf Tournament. She wasn't sure whether she was going to play a couple of holes, the front nine or the full round. Given her determination and immense inner strength, she played the full circuit. With every swing or putt, it reaffirmed for everyone present, that she loved the game of golf and she most certainly enjoyed that special day on the course.

Audrey missed playing golf. All she wanted was her health and strength restored enough so she could get back on the course. In her final days, she accepted her passing without regret. She said she was very happy with the life she had lived and the many things she had accomplished. Although she is physically gone, she touched us all in a special way and, just like Michael, a part of her remains inside each of us. It can be said of both Audrey and Michael, whether you met them once or knew them all your life, you always came away with a good feeling having been in their presence.

Golf your ball in peace, "Coiffe"(as Michael used to lovingly refer to her).

Thank you to all who shared their thoughts and memories of Audrey with the Berkeley family and who donated to the American Cancer Society or the Michael J. Berkeley Foundation in Audreyıs memory: Robert & Linda Majewski, Sandy & Frank Kepley, Mark Connell, Erin B. LeMere, Ed & Dottie Guertin, Wayne Watkis, Steven & Laurel Wexman, William & Claire Dick, John & Lois Carnochan, John & Karen Simon, Mabel & Garry Brown, Robert & Martha Gilbert, Lake View Homeowners, Bernard & Rosemarie Donnelly, Edward & Barbara Kordula, Evander Duck, Tampabay Stickmen Golf Group, John & Audrey Kartheiser, Lake View & Friends Menıs Golfers, Robert Winters, Martha Miller Mallak, The Monday Ladiesı Golf Group, Frank Gabriele, and Juanita Butte & Family