Berne leaders mourn the loss of colleague, friend

Berne Tri-Weekly News:

Former Berne Mayor John Minch, who is currently out of town, was stunned when he received the telephone call informing him of the passing of former city attorney, Robert Biberstein. The local attorney sat at the left of Minch in the solicitor's chair during the former mayor's terms of office.

"I knew him some from basketball, but we became good friends when we first came to Berne in the 1960's," recalled Minch. "I really got to know him when his daughter and my daughter competed on the swim team. We served on countless committees together at that time.

"He was honest and fair in anything that he did," continued Minch. "I felt very confident with him when he was the city attorney. You knew that he was not going to do anything to embarrass you. Sometimes he would call me into his office and we would talk over things. By the time I left, we shook hands and understood the scope of the issue that we were dealing with."