Seymour Berry (November 22, 1922 – December 6, 2008) was an official in the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...

who was

Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing The Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the head of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing within the United States Department of the Treasury. The current director is Leonard R. Olijar. The position has existed since 1862, when the ...

from 1977 to 1979.

Biography

Seymour Berry was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1922. He grew up in New York. In 1942, Berry joined the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. With the U.S.'s entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and received the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

after he was wounded at the

Battle of Hürtgen Forest The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (german: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) was a series of battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944, between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II, in the Hürtgen Forest, a are ...

. After the war, in 1946, he returned to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. While working at the Bureau, he attended

night school A night school is an adult learning school that holds classes in the evening or at night to accommodate people who work during the day. A community college or university may hold night school classes that admit undergraduates. Italy The Scuola ...

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

, graduating in 1951. He received a law degree from

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

in 1953.Matt Schudel, "Seymour Berry, 86; Headed U.S. Agency", ''Washington Post'', December 27, 2008
/ref> Berry spent his entire career at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, working successively as plate printer, foreman, superintendent of the examining division, chief of the Office of Securities Processing, and assistant director for administration. In 1977, he became

, a position he held until 1979. Berry retired in 1979, settling in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

. He died at his home in Silver Spring of Dementia with Lewy bodies on December 6, 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berry, Seymour 1922 births 2008 deaths United States Department of the Treasury officials United States Army personnel of World War II George Washington University alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Lawyers from New York City Deaths from Lewy body dementia Deaths from dementia in Maryland Carter administration personnel