Edith Morgan

1920-2014

Edith Morgan, a resilient woman of glamour and warmth, died on July 20 at Mills-Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame after a brief illness. She was 93.

The youngest of five children born to Rose and Bernard Herskovits in Szomotor, Czechoslovakia, Edith, like many of her generation, had her youth ripped away as the Nazis marched through Europe. Staying one step ahead of them, she fled in a harrowing journey through occupied France, Spain and finally Portugal, sailing for the United States in 1941. Her parents and two of her sisters also emigrated, but her older sister died in the Holocaust and her brother was killed in the chaos following the war. She never forgot them.

Settling in Chicago, she met the love of her life, fellow Czech Morrie Morgan. They married in 1944 and moved to Modesto, where Morrie entered the produce business and where their two sons, Richard, now a physician in Burlingame, and Michael, an attorney in Seattle, were born. In 1955, the family moved to Beverly Hills and became active members of the greater Los Angeles Jewish community.

Edith's full-time career was mother, homemaker and hostess, and she excelled at all three - no one could make a more delicate blintz or a more robust chicken paprikash.

After Morrie died in 1973, she continued an active social life and volunteered for a number of causes. She enjoyed getting to know people and took special pride in being able to connect with her children's friends as well as her peers.

Seven years ago, she moved to a senior residence in San Mateo to be closer to family. They remained her main interest, especially her four grandchildren - Melissa (Marty) of Mercer Island, WA; Todd (Wendy) of Ann Arbor, MI; Daniel of Tel Aviv, Israel; and Joanna of San Francisco. She was devoted to them, as they to her - and to the end she would surprise them with her insightful comments about their lives and loves.

They survive her, as do her sons and her daughters-in-law Miriam (Richard) and Linda (Michael); her great-grandchildren Ariella, Sasha, Oliver and Jacob; her sister Violet (Iby) Mainzer of Chicago; her step-brother-in-law Tibor Roch (Margo) of Encino; and her many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews around the country.

Funeral services were held on July 24 in Los Angeles. Donations in Edith's memory can be made to the Mills-Peninsula Hospital Foundation, 1501 Trousdale Drive, Suite 300, Burlingame, CA 94010; Peninsula Temple Beth El, 1700 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo, CA 94403; or The Kline Galland Center, 1200 University St., Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98101.