Sidney Bernstein, a Maryland Boxing Hall of Fame inductee and former Sun employee, died of dementia Wednesday at the Heritage Center in Dundalk. He was 90.
During a 28-year stint in the Navy, which he joined in 1930, Mr. Bernstein won the light-heavyweight championship of the Asiatic Fleet. He wore boxing shorts decorated with the Star of David and was nicknamed the "Jewish Bomber."
At 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds, Mr. Bernstein was known as a methodical boxer, fast on his feet and possessing a powerful left jab. "Kill the body," he once said, "and the head will fall. It works every time."
Mr. Bernstein boxed his way to a 115-10 record by the end of his amateur career in 1938, when his first wife, the former Ann Grott, asked him to quit. He turned down several offers to turn professional.
He retired from the Navy in 1958 with the rank of chief warrant officer, after having served on 16 ships and receiving 11 medals. He served stints in the Philippines, at Pearl Harbor and coached a boxing team at the Naval Experimental Station in Annapolis. Mr. Bernstein then returned to Baltimore and worked in advertising and marketing for The Sun, staying with the paper for nearly 20 years.
At the same time, he became involved in the Baltimore boxing scene, doing public relations work and promoting matches. A lifetime member of Ring 101, the local chapter of the International Veteran Boxers Association, Mr. Bernstein was inducted into the hall of fame in 1985.
Mr. Bernstein was a sharp dresser who always wore suits when he went out. "He was a flamboyant type of guy, very dapper," said Ray H. Leonard, a former president of Ring 101. He liked to reminisce about his days in the Navy and talk about boxing greats he said he had known while in the service, including world middleweight champions Ken Overlin and Eddie "Babe" Risko.
Born and raised in Northwest Baltimore, Mr. Bernstein attended Polytechnic Institute and City College, where he first donned boxing gloves.
He left school for the Navy before graduating, and earned a high school diploma years later while in the service. Mr. Bernstein also later completed some college coursework by correspondence.
In 1984, Mr. Bernstein married his fourth wife, the former Irene Taylor, and moved into her house in Essex. The couple met while shopping for groceries in the commissary at Aberdeen Proving Ground.
"I thought, 'Hmm. Tall and handsome. Wonder if he's married?'" said Mrs. Bernstein.
Mr. Bernstein asked her whether she was shopping for her husband and children, and she replied that she was a widow.
Services and internment will be held at noon today at the B'nai Israel Congregation Cemetery, 3107 Southern Ave.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Bernstein is survived by a son, Jules Bernstein of Bel Air; a daughter, Marlene Lee Oshry of Silver Spring; a brother, Howard Bernstein of Washington, D.C.; a sister, Eppie Gerber; and five grandchildren.