Dr. Morris Ehrlich

CHESTER - Dr. Morris J. Ehrlich of Chester died Monday, April 5, 2010, at the age of 90, at the Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia.

Morris Joseph Ehrlich Jr. was born 09 January 1920, the son of Louise Douglass Ehrlich and Morris Joseph Ehrlich Sr. He was a 1937 graduate of Chester High School, then attended the University of South Carolina as a pre-dental student and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity. In the fall of 1939, he entered Atlanta Southern Dental College, joining the dental fraternity Xi Psi Phi in 1940. He graduated from the dental college in February 1943.

Joining the Naval Reserves as an ensign in the spring of 1942, he received a promotion to LT(jg) USNR in the spring of 1943. He began his tour of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps at Parris Island, S.C., in May 1943. In 1944, he was transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps, Medical Field Service at Camp Lejuene, N.C., for special training prior to overseas assignment. He was promoted to LT. US NR in 1944.

Lt. Ehrlich was attached to the Marine Corps, Medical Field ServiceUnit, fighting in the Pacific War front. In 1945, he was on the Island of Iwo Jima during the severe fighting for occupancy of the island. His battalion was almost decimated. He returned to the U.S. in December of 1945.

Dr. Ehrlich was a licensed dentist in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. He elected to remain in Chester and opened his dental practice in 1946 on McAliley Street and retired from practice in 1980.

Baptized in Purity Presbyterian Church, he later served as a deacon. Dr. Ehrlich served on the Chester City Council in the 1950s. He was a member of the Jaycees, Lion's Club, a member of the ADA and S.C. Dental Association.

He is survived by two sons, Dr. (Rev.) Morris J. Ehrlich III of Palisades, Colo., and Fredrick (Terry) Ehrlich and wife, Donna, of Chester; three granddaughters, Anna E. Dassing and husband, Robert, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., Tama E. Eller and husband, Robert, of Clayton, N.C., and Lynly Ehrlich of Hollywood, Calif.; one great-grandson, Troy Dassing; one stepgrandson, Travis Jenkins; and a niece, Jo Anne Plyler of Jacksonville, Fla. He was preceded in death, in 1998, by his sister, Mary E. Plyler of Lancaster, S.C.

With the exception of his school years and military service during the war, Dr. Ehrlich really never left home. His office was adjacent to the family ancestral home, built in 1868, at 130 Wylie St., Chester. His grandfather, Joseph Ehrlich, was a well-known and loved businessman, operating Ehrlich's 5, 10 and 25-cent mercantile establishment at 119 Gadsden St. His father continued the business, and together with his wife opened Ehrlich's Flower Shop in 1940. His great-grandmother and two uncles, both Chester merchants, resided on Center Street before the turn of the twentieth century.

Dr. Ehrlich was an avid hunter and fisherman. Friends remember him as a soft-spoken, gentle, kind man who spoke ill of no man. "Live and let live" was his credo. He will be missed.

Dr. Ehrlich is a proud donor to the Gift of Body program of the Medical University of South Carolina.

Visitation will be at Barron Funeral Home in Chester from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 7.

Memorials may be made to the charity of choice, or to Purity Presbyterian Church, PO Box 278, Chester, SC 29706.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.barronfuneralhome.com.