It is with profound sadness that I announce the passing of Bob Berrington, one of the
Nevada Tombstone Project's most proliferate contributors.
Since the first email I received from Bob, volunteering to photo cemeteries in Washoe
County where he lived, Bob had sought out old cemeteries in the area, and captured in his
pictures much of our early history. One of the highlights of Bob's contributions was
the forgotten cemetery at the Nevada Mental Institute Cemetery, in Sparks, Nevada. Little
did I realize that the many times I spent in Reno, and at the Reno Hilton, that there was
a forgotten cemetery behind that structure.
Bob went the extra step and researched, talked to people who could add information,
secured contributions of historical pictures and was really Nevada's Assistant
Tombstone Manager, so eagerly did he embrace this project.
As a result of the pictures and research that Bob did on the Mental Institute Cemetery,
relatives of deceased in that cemetery contacted the list in search of their ancestors. A
recent result of his work was the successful passing this year of a law to make the
Institute Cemetery a historical cemetery, with the State of Nevada more aware of the
neglect that had happened under their care.
Bob's legacy to the world of genealogy will be the many pictures he caringly took to
assure a permanent record of a person's existence in this world. We will greatly miss
his great contributions.
Bob passed away in Reno on June 19, 2009. His loving partner in life, wife Lois, who
often helped him by pulling back weeds and sagebrush growth so Bob could take a picture,
predeceased him in 2008. Bob had retired from Eastman Kodak and found the Tombstone
Project a perfect fit for him. Bob leaves behind his daughter, Cindy, of Las Vegas.
You can see Bob's work by visiting
http://www.usgwtombstones.org/nevada/nevada.html
and clicking on Washoe County.
Our sincere condolences to Cindy and family on the loss of her Father.
Gerry Perry, Manager
Nevada Tombstone Project