Berkley Warren Bedell, age 98, passed away on December 7, 2019, three days after suffering a massive stroke in Naples, FL. He spent his life focused on making the world a better place.

A third generation of Spirit Lake, Iowa, he was born on March 5, 1921. Growing up with two loving parents, Walter and Virginia Bedell and a younger brother, Jack, his life was filled with fishing, hunting, and hanging out with the South Side Gang – a harmless group of neighborhood friends who loved fishing, hunting and the magical life in a small town surrounded by lakes and wildlife.

In 1937 when he was 15, he began tying fishing flies and selling them in a local tackle shop. With the encouragement of his family and his natural entrepreneurial instincts he began developing fishing leaders and the beginning of what became Berkley & Co. He attended Iowa State University where he met the love of his life Elinor Healy. He continued his fishing tackle business until World War II called and he joined the Army Air Corps becoming a flight instructor. Elinor and Berkley were married August 29, 1943.

After the war, Berk and Elinor returned to Spirit Lake and restarted Berkley & Co which grew rapidly. From Steelon leaders to Trilene fishing line, Berkley’s inventiveness introduced new and better products into the fishing tackle market, enabling him to employ hundreds of local people and home workers. The company expanded into multiple locations, finally consolidating into a new factory building on Highway 71 where it remains today. In 1964 he was honored by President Lyndon Johnson as the country’s first Small Businessman of the Year. Berk was inducted into the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame, the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, and the Iowa Business Hall of Fame.

Berkley was active in community affairs. He was a member of the Spirit Lake United Methodist Church, a founding member of the Spirit Lake Kiwanis Club and a Mason. He served on the Spirit Lake School Board. Many people will recall his mentorship as a Boy Scout leader, the record number of Eagle Scouts, and the annual canoe trips to the Boundary Waters.

He served as the president of the American Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Association and the Iowa Manufacturing Association. He was active in the Young Presidents Organization. He served on the Boards of Trustees of Morningside College, American University and Claremont School of Theology.

In 1974 he was elected to represent Iowa’s 6th District in the U.S. Congress. He served for twelve years until his retirement in 1987 because he contracted Lyme’s disease. In Congress he served on the Agriculture Committee and chaired the Small Business Committee. He also represented the United States on the UN Convention on Law of the Seas.

When his health returned, due to alternative protocols, he lobbied Congress to establish an Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) in the National Institutes of Health. He served on the advisory board. Becoming frustrated that OAM did not aggressively investigate alternate medical practices, he and his wife Elinor founded the Foundation for Alternative and Integrative Medicine (FAIM) in 1998 which continues today. FAIM is accomplishing Berkley’s dream of searching the world for effective therapies, researching the protocols and sharing the information on the FAIM website, www.faim.org. The foundation has become an umbrella for over 100 medical experts to share cutting edge information on alternative, integrative and complementary approaches to health including new frontiers in medicine.

Berkley contributed in countless ways to the quality of life in the Iowa Great Lakes from co-leading the Save the Park funding drive for Arnolds Park to being a founding member of the Okoboji Foundation. He and Elinor contributed land to create Elinor Bedell State Park in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

In 1988 he and Elinor moved to Naples, FL. He became active in North Naples United Methodist Church, Naples Council on World Affairs, and Great Decisions. He is known around Moorings Park as a hugger, dancer, and bridge player. He appreciated his many friends who joined him for dinner.

While being remembered for his achievements, most people think of Berk for his leadership, his kindness, his compassion and his activeness to make a difference – not just in big causes, but in individual people’s lives. He was alive with empathy and always ready to take on injustice.

In addition to his commitment to improving health care options he was recently working to educate people on the perils of the unequal distribution of wealth, climate change and the impact on future generations, and the broken governmental system being controlled by large corporations. He often would explain how differently and more effectively the government operated in the 1970s and 1980s while he served in Congress.

With all that can be said about Berkley, he remained an avid fisherman to his last days. When his 5 year old great grandson was told about the stroke, he said it best saying “Oh no, he was the greatest fisherman I ever knew.”

Berkley was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Elinor Healy Bedell. He is survived by three children, Ken Bedell (Kathie) of Westminster, CO; Tom Bedell (Molly) of Bend, OR; and Joanne Quinn (Mike) of Loveland, CO; eight grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the Foundation for Alternative and Integrative Medicine, PO Box 2860, Loveland, CO 80539 or via the online donation form.