Charles Eugene Bergmann's Obituary
Charles Eugene “Geno” Bergmann was born in Southern California on the night of the winter solstice in 1932. He passed on October 12, 2025 at the ripe age of 92 years young.
He was the youngest of two siblings, his sister Beverly being 3 years older and has one son, Mace Bergmann who lives in Petaluma CA. Geno moved to Hawaii in 1957, ʻterritory daysʻ as he would say. He was a trained typesetter and printer like his father John. His mother Ruth was a career woman working for Lockheed Aircraft Company while he grew up.
After working for the Honolulu advertiser, he settled on Hawaiʻi Island and fell in love with Kailua-Kona where he lived for many years. Being an artist, he began to work with stone and carving wooden tiki‘s. He had a little thatched roof stand at the corner of ʻThe World Squareʻ on Aliʻi drive, now known as ʻThe Kona Marketplaceʻ. There he rented his Kona Coast kaʻaʻs and pink jeeps in-between carving tiki’s and playing chess. He also managed the famous “ Kona Steak House” in the 60’s and played stand up bass, hosting some of Hawaiiʻs finest like Duke Kahanamoku and Daniel Inouye. He helped restore the Kona Kealakowaʻa heiau under the direction of Joanne Kahanamoku. His love for Hawaii was endless.
Geno eventually built the beautiful stone walls of the Kona Marketplace in the 70ʻs with his signature artistic stone designs. His amazing stone artistry is found throughout Hawaiʻi island with an immense 300 foot wall along Pacific Heights Drive on Oʻahu at the Science of the Soul Study Center where he lived for a period.
Geno was a deeply spiritual soul who was a vegetarian most of his life. He loved all creatures and had many dogs and horses over the years. He meditated daily and loved the ocean. He lived and visited many islands in the South Pacific where he dove and collected exquisite shells. He was also an actor and appears in the movie ʻSouth Pacificʻ singing the song ‘there ain’t nothing like a dameʻ. He loved the dames and led a big life filled with adventure and travel. He was larger than life and gave his loving full attention to everyone he spent time with. His legacy is laid in stone. Those of us who were fortunate to be close to him were both entertained and enlightened by his loving ways. His big handsome smile and playfulness, as well as his depth of love for God will be remembered by all who knew him. As his mother called him, Genie, he was a magical being, like that out of a lantern, who granted many of us our wishes. We will always love you, Geno!
aloha au iā ʻoe,
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