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Adolph Berg | Company president, 89

Adolph Berg, 89, of Narberth, former president of the Alpha Shirt & Hosiery Co. who served with Army intelligence during World War II, died last Friday at Lankenau Hospital from complications caused by flu.

Adolph Berg, 89, of Narberth, former president of the Alpha Shirt & Hosiery Co. who served with Army intelligence during World War II, died last Friday at Lankenau Hospital from complications caused by flu.

Mr. Berg was born and raised in New York and attended the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. After he was drafted, he scored so well on Army tests that he was assigned to the Army Signal Intelligence Service in Australia.

It was his unit that broke the Japanese code that resulted in the interception of the flight carrying Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind behind the Pearl Harbor attack. Mr. Berg was honorably discharged in August 1945 and received a certificate of appreciation from the War Department.

After the war, he succeeded his father as president of the Alpha shirt company in Philadelphia. He managed the business with his brother, Justin.

Mr. Berg also was a master bridge player and was playing high-level, competitive bridge at Bala's Hamilton Club two days before he died, said his son-in-law, Tom Quay.

Mr. Berg is survived by a son, Jeffrey Berg; a daughter, Winnifred B. Cutler; six grandchildren; three stepchildren; and two stepgrandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Eleanor K. Berg, in 1967, and his second wife, Barbara Berg, in 2005.

A nondenominational memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today in the chapel of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, 625 Bryn Mawr Ave.