Bergfeld Family Honored by Junior Achievement

TYLER — The Board of Directors for Junior Achievement of the Greater Tyler Area announced Wednesday at a press conference at Peete Elementary School that the Bergfeld family has been chosen as Tyler’s 2016 Laureate for the JA Business Hall of Fame. According to a news release, the Hall of Fame reception will be held on March 31, 2016 at Willowbrook Country Club in Tyler. The news release says The Bergfeld name has had a major impact on the Tyler landscape since Rudolph Bergfeld came to town in 1878. Rudolph was a prominent landowner and developer beginning in the 1880s and continuing through the 1920s when he developed much of what is now known as the Azalea District.

Today, the Bergfeld family tradition continues with Julius L. “J.L.” Bergfeld, Jr. and his sons Andy and Brad Bergfeld, who are all partners at Bergfeld Realty Company. Along with their business achievements, Bergfeld family members have shown a commitment to volunteerism and civic improvement. A prime example: Andy Bergfeld’s position as TISD Board President, echoing his great-great grandfather Rudolph Bergfeld’s membership on the Tyler Board of Education more than a century before. Andy Bergfeld says his family is honored by the JA selection. JA’s stated purpose is to educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise and understand business and economics to improve the quality of their lives.