Great Neck resident and wife of the late songwriter Ervin Drake, Edith Bermaine Drake died last Wednesday morning at the age of 93.
Drake, the daughter of Russian émigrés, was born in Harlem February 7th, 1922.
At the 1939 World’s Fair, she worked as a showgirl and model.
In 1944, Drake married Norman Edwin Berman before he was sent overseas to serve in the war.
The couple first lived in Manhattan, then moved to Levittown, and finally settling in Great Neck.
Drake created a self empowerment for women course and taught Adult Education while continuing her modeling career and raising three sons, Neil, Roy, and Jed.
In 1958, she created Bermaine Cosmetics, an institution that lasted 35 years at locations in Great Neck and Wilmington, Delaware.
Berman passed away in 1974, and in 1982 she married Drake.
Drake was best known for writing the songs “Good Morning Heartache,” sung by Billie Holiday, and “It Was a Very Good Year,” recorded by Frank Sinatra.
Edith Drake was said to be inspiration for both songs.
An obituary submitted by her son, Jed, said “she lived an active, happy life, biked daily until the last week of her life, and was a major supporter and fan of the theater and cabaret.”
Drake was preceded by her husband Ervin, sister Alice, and brother Abraham. She is survived by her sons Neil, Roy, Jed, their spouses and seven grandchildren.
