DANVERS - Mrs. Barbara Irene (Doucette) Bergman, 89, died surrounded by her family on August 15, 2016 at the Genesis Twin Oaks Nursing Home in Danvers. Barbara Bergman was predeceased by her husband of 50 years, Ralph L. "Larry" Bergman, who died on August 30, 2002 at age 75.

Orphaned during the Great Depression, she created a loving home for her own family and for her grandchildren. Mother of twin sons, she founded the North Shore Mothers of Twins Club (now North Shore Mothers of Multiples) in her living room in 1958.

Barbara was born on October 12, 1926 in Reading, Mass., to Anne Irene (Surette) Doucette and John Leo Doucette. In 1929, her mother died of tuberculosis in Nova Scotia, Canada at age 22; as did her sister, Marguerite Evangeline, at age 3. In 1932, her father died in a motor vehicle accident in Springfield, Mass. at age 26. Orphaned at age six, young Barbara alternately lived with Doucette grandparents in Reading and Surette grandparents on Surette's Island, Nova Scotia, often taking the long steamship ride between Boston and Yarmouth, N.S., by herself. From 1939, she was raised by Dorothy (Clark) Doucette, her aunt and adoptive mother. Dorothy died in 1994 at age 89.

Barbara graduated from Lynn English High School in Lynn, Mass., in 1944. She met her future husband, Larry, when he returned to his home in Saugus, Mass., following military service during World War II. Dorothy and Barbara had moved to Larry's neighborhood while he was in the service.

Barbara and Larry were married at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Saugus on April 20, 1952. They moved to Danvers in 1953, where they lived at 89 Forest Street for five decades. They were first members of Calvary Episcopal Church in Danvers for many years, and then St. Richard's Roman Catholic Church at 90 Forest Street.

Twin sons, Carl and Keith, were born in 1957. Barbara's coping strategy was to establish a support group, the North Shore Mothers of Twins Club, a year later. Still going strong after more than fifty years, "The North Shore Mothers of Multiples is a non-profit organization founded in 1958 by Barbara Bergman," according to its website.

In the late 1960s, she was a Cub Scout den mother for Pack 92, Danvers, and served as chair of the Danvers Highlands Bean Supper Committee.

Between 1946 and 1991, Barbara worked for New England Telephone and its successor, NYNEX, first as a telephone operator, and then with directory assistance, and finally telephone repair. During the four-month strike of 60,000 NYNEX workers in 1989, Barbara proudly picketed as a member of IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers). During a break in service during the 1960s to raise her children, Barbara had worked at home for Hotwatt, Inc. of Danvers.

Indulgent parents of a drummer, the Bergman's basement on Forest Street in the 1970s hosted countless rehearsals for local musicians, including Brad Delp of Boston, and Gary Shane and the Detour.

Barbara and Larry's retirement included numerous trips abroad, with domestic trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas. An avid enthusiast of bingo, Barbara frequented games in function halls and senior centers throughout the North Shore, and never left home without her bingo bag, including a seat cushion.

In recent years, she had lived at Landmark at Oceanview assisted living in Beverly, and Genesis Twin Oaks nursing home in Danvers.

Barbara is survived by her sons, musician Carl Bergman and his wife, Deborah, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, and Littleton Town Administrator Keith Bergman and his wife, Margaret Carroll-Bergman, of Concord and Nantucket, Mass.; and by her grandchildren, Derek John Bergman of Danvers, Danielle Erin Bergman of Salem, Mary Byrne Bergman of Nantucket, and Elizabeth Carroll Bergman Falco (husband, Anthony Falco) of Greenfield, Mass. She is also survived by her mother's youngest brother, uncle Daniel Surette, and by Surette and Doucette cousins

ARRANGEMENTS: Her funeral will be held from the Peterson-O'Donnell Funeral Home 167 Maple St., (rte 62) Danvers, Friday, August 19th at 10 A.M. followed by her funeral Mass in St. Richard's Church, Forest St., Danvers at 11 A.M. Relatives and friends invited. Burial in Annunciation Cemetery, Danvers. Visiting hours Thursday, August 18th from 4 to 7 P.M. To share a memory or offer a condolence please visit www.odonnellfuneralservice.com