Peter Berson, retired assistant district attorney and political podcaster, has died at 69
He prosecuted high-profile welfare cheats and food stamp fraudsters, and even tackled a conspiracy of funeral directors who sold body parts on the side.
Peter Berson, 69, of Philadelphia, retired longtime assistant district attorney, personable political podcaster, jazz devotee, and mentor, died Tuesday, March 31, of glioblastoma at his home in East Mount Airy.
Born and reared in Center City, Mr. Berson left Philadelphia to attend college and law school in Ohio and work for two years in Washington, D.C. But he couldn’t cut the hometown cord completely — they called him “the Philly boy” at Antioch College — and he returned to Philadelphia in 1982 after graduating from law school in Cleveland.
That kicked off his 30-year career as an assistant district attorney for five Philly DAs. “Peter was a great guy and a real pro,” a former judge said in an online tribute. “Always a welcome presence in my courtroom.”
From 1988 to his retirement in 2019, from DA Ed Rendell to DA Larry Krasner, Mr. Berson handled hundreds of fraud and economic crime cases, and publicly decried their negative impact on city residents. He also directed more than a dozen election year task forces that monitored voter fraud and intimidation complaints.
“He loved going to court,” said his wife, Sharon Stern. “People said he was really fair and easy to work with. He liked the challenges.”
Mr. Berson prosecuted high-profile welfare cheats and food stamp fraudsters at all levels. He even tackled a conspiracy of funeral directors who sold body parts on the side.
» READ MORE: Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer
He championed new rules in 1994 designed to cripple the food stamp black market and said: “Somebody’s got to look out for the children who are going hungry.” In 1999, he told The Inquirer that welfare fraud “really violates the public trust.”
He was adept at legal research, routinely cool, calm, and collected in court, and chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section in 2009. As a mentor, a former colleague in the DA’s office said online: “He led with kindness, humility, humor, warmth, a little goofiness, fun, and also serious good advice that was well timed so it landed well and stuck.”
Earlier, after law school, Mr. Berson worked briefly in the district attorney’s office and in private practice with his father’s firm. Before law school, he worked in Washington for U.S. Rep. William H. Gray III.
In 2020, Mr. Berson debuted a podcast, Money Talks and BS Walks: Philadelphia Politics from 1980 to the Present. He interviewed politicians, civic leaders, journalists, activists, and other notable Philadelphians through 2024, and opened every episode by saying: “You can look at us as a bunch of friends sitting on someone’s stoop [complaining] about the weather and talking trash about the city that loves you back.”
He was a well-known authority on jazz and used it as a soundtrack to his everyday life. He went with his wife to the annual Saratoga Jazz Festival in New York for 36 years.
He was a big college and pro sports fan, and a self-described traditionalist regarding the Mummers Parade on Broad Street. In 1995, when that New Year’s Day parade was relocated to Market Street, he told the Daily News: “It’s better on Broad Street. It has the feeling of New Year’s. This feels like a made-for-TV event.”
Friends called Mr. Berson a “great son and citizen of Philadelphia” and “warm, hilarious, brilliant” in tributes. One friend said: “He was one of the great ones, a real great guy who would make you smile and laugh.”
Peter Berson was born July 2, 1956. He grew up with a sister, Erica, and graduated from Miquon High School in Conshohocken.
“He was the first person I would go to when I had a problem,” his sister said, “and he always took the time to listen.” He earned a bachelor’s degree at Antioch in Ohio and his law degree at what is now the Cleveland State University School of Law.
His father, Norman, was a lawyer and longtime state representative, and his mother, Lenora, was a civic leader and one-time Daily News political columnist. Like them, he was always interested in the law and politics.
He met Sharon Stern at Antioch, and they married in 1982, and had a son, Matthew. They lived in Roxborough before moving to East Mount Airy.
Mr. Berson reveled in telling tales about his craziest court cases and dreamed up memorable bedtime stories for his son. He began experiencing unexplained seizures in his late 40s and lived with brain cancer for the last 15 months.
“He never let it faze him,” longtime friend Mike Freeman said. “He was optimistic, funny, compassionate, a problem solver, stoic, and indefatigable in the face of medical issues.”
His wife said: “He was thoughtful, honest, and outgoing. He was a good friend, good husband, good father.”
His son said: “He was my dad, my best friend, my hero.”
In addition to his wife, son, and sister, Mr. Berson is survived by other relatives.
Services are to be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at Trinity Memorial Church, 2212 Spruce St., Philadelphia, 19103.
Donations in his name may be made to the American Cancer Society, Box 6704, Hagerstown, Md. 21741; and the American Diabetes Association, Box 7023, Merrifield, Va. 22116.
