Elsie S. Adelson

Former San Bernardino resident, ELSIE S. ADELSON died Oct. 16, 2010, in Lake Forest, Calif., of natural causes. She was 92. Born Elsie Scharfstein on Aug. 31, 1918, in New York City, she was the middle child of three born to Anna Seidman and Abraham Scharfstein. Adelson graduated from New York's Hunter College in 1940 and Yale University's nursing school in 1943. Even before receiving her degree and throughout her career, Adelson's medical knowledge and cool demeanor would be called on in extraordinary circumstances, ranging from attending a dog-bitten niece, collision-injured motorists, switchblade-cut students or a rifle-wounded neighbor. She married Irving N. Adelson in 1946. They moved to New Mexico, where their three children were born; they relocated again, settling in San Bernardino. Elsie Adelson resumed her career as a school nurse for the Riverside Unified School District, ultimately working on several campuses and retiring in 1978. She is survived by her sister, Ruth Meyers of Mohawk, N.Y.; children, Irene Steiniger of Sherman Oaks, Mark of San Bernardino, Andrea Reckard of Laguna Beach; four grandchildren; and a niece and nephew. A Private Service is planned in December. A Memorial Scholarship will be established in her name.