Leo Berman was an American Army lieutenant colonel, business executive, Arlington city official, and Republican Texas legislator. After a 22-year military career that included two Vietnam tours and service as an Army liaison to Congress, he entered local politics and represented Tyler and Smith County in the Texas House from 1999 to 2013.
Background
Ethnicity:
His father was from Latvia and his mother was from Poland; both immigrated to the United States.
Berman was born on October 21, 1935, in New York City, the son of Abraham Berman and Rose Sensor. His father had immigrated from Latvia and his mother from Poland; both came through Ellis Island in the 1920s, established a business, learned English, and built their lives in the United States.
The United States Army stationed Berman in Texas in 1954, and Texas became his adopted home. He later settled in the East Texas community of Tyler, where his military career, business work, local public service, and state legislative career were centered.
Education
Berman earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science with honors from Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1969. Founded in 1911, Southern Methodist University became a major private university in the Dallas–Fort Worth region, with programs in the liberal arts, business, law, engineering, and public affairs.
His military education included the Army Field Artillery School Officer Candidate School, the Air Defense Artillery and Missile School, the Armor School, and the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. These institutions formed part of the Army's professional education system for developing commissioned officers and preparing them for command, staff, and specialized operational responsibilities.
Career
Berman served in the United States Army for 22 years and retired in 1976 as a lieutenant colonel. He graduated first in his class at the Field Artillery School Officer Candidate School, completed additional Army training in air defense, missiles, armor, and command and general staff work, and served two tours in Vietnam. From 1971 to 1975 he was an Army liaison officer to the United States House of Representatives, connecting military affairs with congressional work.
After retiring from active military service, Berman became a public affairs executive with Sun Exploration and Production Company, where he worked from 1980 to 1991. Sun was part of the American oil and gas industry, an important sector of the Texas economy and a major source of corporate public-affairs activity during the late twentieth century.
Berman entered Arlington municipal politics in 1979, winning election to the city council and serving six years, including two years as mayor pro tempore. He also served on the board of the Texas Army National Guard Armory and chaired the Texas Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations after gubernatorial appointment.
First elected in 1998, Berman represented District 6 in the Texas House of Representatives for seven terms, from January 12, 1999, to January 8, 2013. He chaired the Elections Committee and the Defense Affairs and State-Federal Relations Subcommittee on Budget and Oversight, and served as vice chair of House Administration. His other assignments included Appropriations, Higher Education, and Government Reform. He was associated with the development of a nursing program at The University of Texas at Tyler and was known for personally responding to constituent correspondence.
In 2009 Berman was promoted to colonel in the Texas State Guard. The Texas State Guard is a state military force organized to support Texas authorities and communities during emergencies and other state missions.
Achievements
Berman completed a 22-year United States Army career that included two tours in Vietnam and service as an Army liaison officer to Congress.
He represented District 6 in the Texas House of Representatives for seven terms from 1999 to 2013 and held committee leadership positions in elections, defense affairs, state-federal relations, and House administration.
He helped support the establishment of a nursing program at The University of Texas at Tyler.
Religion
Berman was identified with the Methodist tradition and was also a leading lay member of Christ Episcopal Church in Tyler, Texas. His public life was marked by an explicitly Christian identity and by service in a church community.
Methodism developed from the eighteenth-century revival movement associated with John Wesley and emphasized personal faith, disciplined Christian practice, charitable service, and social responsibility. Episcopal Christianity belongs to the Anglican tradition, whose American institutions combine liturgical worship, episcopal governance, and a strong tradition of lay participation.
Politics
Berman was a Republican who represented Texas House District 6 from 1999 through 2013. His politics combined military and veterans' concerns, opposition to illegal immigration, support for stricter immigration enforcement, advocacy of English as the official language, and socially and fiscally conservative positions.
During his legislative career he occupied the conservative right flank of the Texas Republican Party. He introduced proposals modeled on Arizona's immigration-enforcement law, sought electronic employment-status verification, opposed birthright citizenship, and challenged the Republican House leadership as insufficiently conservative. His committee work included elections, defense affairs, state-federal relations, appropriations, higher education, government reform, and House administration.
Views
Berman publicly emphasized personal integrity, factual certainty, constitutional principles, military service, and individual responsibility. His legislative proposals and public statements reflected a belief that government should enforce immigration laws strictly, protect national and state sovereignty, and preserve English as a common civic language.
Quotations:
"The only thing a person has that can't be taken away is integrity."
Membership
Berman participated in military-veterans' organizations, business associations, civic groups, humanitarian services, educational institutions, and East Texas nonprofit organizations. His memberships and board service extended from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and military organizations to the Texas Association of Business and Chambers of Commerce, the Boy Scouts of America, Texas College, Bethesda Health Clinic, East Texas Meals on Wheels, and the Arc of Smith County.
These organizations connected him with veterans' affairs, business advocacy, youth development, health services, food assistance, education, and disability services. The Arc of Smith County recognized his continuing contribution by naming him a board member emeritus.
Life member.
American Legion
,
United States
Member.
Veterans of Foreign Wars
,
United States
Member.
Masonic fraternity
,
United States
Member.
Lions Clubs International
,
United States
Life member and former board director.
Texas Association of Business and Chambers of Commerce
,
United States
Executive committee member.
Boy Scouts of America, East Texas Area Council
,
United States
Board member.
Bethesda Health Clinic
,
United States
Board member.
East Texas Meals on Wheels
,
United States
Board member.
Texas College
,
United States
Board member emeritus.
The Arc of Smith County
,
United States
Advisory committee member.
Occupational Medicine Program, UT Health Northeast
,
United States
Perpetual member.
Military Order of the World Wars
,
United States
Lifetime member.
National Rifle Association
,
United States
Lifetime member.
Texas State Rifle Association
,
United States
Member.
Texas Conservative Coalition
,
United States
Executive committee member.
Texas Veterans Coalition
,
United States
Personality
Berman was described as direct, outspoken, earnest, and personally attentive to constituents. He emphasized that he answered his own telephone calls, emails, and letters and presented integrity as a central personal principle.
Quotes from others about the person
Texas legislative resolutions described Berman as a dedicated public servant, a committed military veteran, and a man of strong Christian faith. A 2011 profile quoted him as saying that he personally answered every email he received and that integrity was the one thing a person could not have taken away.
Interests
Veterans' affairs, military service, civic organizations, community health, education, youth development, and conservative political advocacy.
Connections
Berman was the son of Abraham Berman and Rose Sensor. He married Cara Sue Hughey in 1967; she predeceased him. He married Lou Ann Kuck in 2001, and she was a physician.
He had five children identified in the supplied family records as A. Y. Berman, Jennings Berman, David S. Berman, Dean B. Berman, and Susan Bourbonnais Berman. Other biographical accounts identify Jennings as Robby Jennings or Trey Jennings. He was survived by grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Father:
Abraham Berman
Immigrant from Latvia.
Mother:
Rose Sensor
child:
A. Y. Berman
Son:
Dean B. Berman
Son:
Jennings Berman
Also identified in later accounts as Robby Jennings or Trey Jennings.
House Concurrent Resolution 137, Texas Legislature
Memorial resolution describing Berman's family background, Army career, Vietnam service, awards, public-affairs work, Arlington municipal service, legislative career, church participation, and nonprofit board service.
2015
Berman Leads Charge From GOP's Right Flank
Profiles Berman's conservative legislative agenda, immigration proposals, opposition to House leadership, constituent-service practices, and family immigration background.
2011
Leo Berman obituary
Documents Berman's death, military and educational background, community memberships, family relationships, church service, and nonprofit activities.
