Bert Young

Bert Young, 92 of Carmel, passed away Wednesday, December 8, 2021.  Bert was born July 2, 1929 in Trenton, NJ to the late Kee and Gett Yew Yong.  His parents were from Hong Kong, where they had been part of the Young China Acrobatic Troop.  They felt the US in the roaring 20’s would provide more opportunity for the troop to thrive.

During the Depression, the troop had less opportunity in the US, and traveled internationally for work.  They moved to Great Britain in 1932.  Bert and his sisters lived in East Grinstead, 33 miles from London, as his parents continued their touring.

When the war broke out in 1939, his parents were performing in Berlin and were fortunate enough to get the last train back to London by using their acrobatic skills and climbing through the open windows of a packed train car, leaving all their belongings behind.  The war put a halt to the family travelling and performing around Europe and they worked touring the industrial areas of England.

Bert and his friends would watch as the German planes bombed London in the Battle of Britain, even playing with plane parts and shrapnel they found on the ground.  He recalled his father getting nosebleeds from stress as they spent nights in the London underground during air raids.  By 1942, the bombings had gotten so intense, Bert and his sister were evacuated north to Scotland, where he was placed with a childless couple; the husband worked in a clothing mill.  This home had no heat, no electricity and no indoor plumbing; a difficult experience.  However, Bert excelled in school and earned a scholarship to the nearby Ayr Academy in Scotland.

In 1943, the family moved to Blackpool, a resort area on England’s northwest coast.  Bert attended an elite boarding school for high school, Rossall, for the next five years.  He was still at Rossall on VE day and the war in Europe ended.  He played rugby and was on the boxing team.  He graduated from Rossall in 1948.

Having worked a couple of manual labor jobs in England, in 1955 Bert decided to return to the United States. It was a five-day trip that included his cousins and parents who were making the trip for an acrobatic performance at Madison Square Garden.

Bert tried twice to enlist in the US military, first with the Air Force and later with the Army.  Due to a heart murmur, he was rejected both times.

After working as a clerk at an import company in New York from 1956 to 1960, he saw an ad advertising a computer programming school, looking for people who excelled in mathematics.  He decided to take a chance at this new industry, and he said it was the best decision of his life.

Bert’s first job out of the school was with Univac, a division of Remington Rand, where he worked as a computer programmer on some of the earliest computers as they were being developed.  Univac sent him to Pfizer Drug Co. to help with their programming, and while there, Pfizer hired him as an employee.  Four years later, in 1966, he moved to Union Carbide, where he remained until retirement in 1993.  At Union Carbide, Bert worked on virtually all of their computer systems programs including systems such as payroll and accounts receivable accounting.  After his retirement, he moved to Carmel.

At a chance meeting in August of 1965, Bert met his future wife, Arja, at an event in New York City.  She was from Finland and travelling in the US at the time.  A few weeks later, Bert showed up at her doorstep at her home in the Arctic Circle to ask for her hand in marriage.  There were not very many Chinese people in the Arctic Circle at the time, and it was quite an adventure.  They were married in New York in June of 1966.  Erik was born a year later, followed by Karen in 1970.

Erik is married to Melissa and Karen is married to Rana Singh.  Bert has five grandchildren, Mallory, Madeline and Bennett Young, Saku and Dilraj Singh. Throughout his life, his children and grandchildren were the light and joy of his life. The family was especially close and everyone adored “Popop.” He was protective, generous, and loving and he put family above all else. His wit, his fascinating stories about his youth will be missed.

Bert was an avid tennis player who played every week until open heart surgery at the age of 80. He was intelligent and curious and had a great sense of humor. He loved the analytics of blackjack, James Bond movies and marveled at nature documentaries. For decades he went for daily walks, the years in Scotland making him seemingly impervious to extreme heat or cold.  Once when his hands were very cold, he was asked, “how high do you turn the heat on at night?” He responded, “why would I turn the heat on at night? I’m sleeping!” His English grit and dry humor shined through as his health declined. He could always find something to make others laugh. It is revealing how many nurses said he was their favorite patient.

Popop took care of everyone throughout his life. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Helen and Ruth Yong.

Private graveside services to be held at Carmel Cemetery.