Jeanette Griepp Berkovitz is a member of the Shawano County Historical Society and chairperson of the grounds for the Shawano County Historical Society’s annual Rhubarb Festival.
Born and raised on Lime Kiln Hill in Shawano County, Berkovitz graduated from Shawano High School in 1961. She earned a degree in English from Wheaton College in Illinois and worked in Chicago before moving to the west coast. She worked in commercial real estate development in Arizona. She earned a law degree from the University of Denver when she lived in Colorado.
From there she went to Seattle, Washington, where she wrote grants and did the history of the Puget Sound for a lawsuit. Berkovitz worked for the Washington State Department of Health, the Department of Natural Resources and HUD, where her duties included oversight of affordable housing. She volunteered for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and started the Evergreen Villages Neighborhood Network Center, an after-school program for disadvantaged children, in 2000 in Olympia, Washington.
Berkovitz moved back to Shawano in 2007 to take care of her mother, who is now deceased, after her father died. She has two children and one grandchild.
Berkovitz likes to read and garden.
Q How long have you been a member of the Shawano County Historical Society?
A “It was 2011. I joined the board in 2012.”
Q Why did you join?
A “I’ve always enjoyed history. I have a family who is very interested in it. Both sides of my family have researched their history. I grew up with that.”
Q What do you do?
A “I do whatever needs to be done. I work at the Archive Center when it’s open. There are three of us who work there. I’m getting the computer system up to date. A lot more people are contacting us on our website.”
Q How do you help with the Rhubarb Festival?
A “We start planning in April. I’m in charge of the grounds where I coordinate everything that happens. We have a bus and horses who can transport people back and forth from downtown. Menominee Transit provides a handicapped accessible bus. I find vendors and demonstrators. We have some of the same ones from other years and some new ones.”
Q Why do you volunteer?
A “I like to stay active and have something stimulating to do. We have a lot of fun and there are great people to work with.”
