Edward Morton Jr., 74, passed away on September 18th, 2021. Born in NYC to Edward and Iris Morton in November 1946, he remained a dedicated New Yorker throughout his life. Ed retired this past year from his position as Clerical Associate with the NYC Department of Finance after 52 years of service. He was a proud DC37 union member and enjoyed his many years working with friends and colleagues for the City of New York. One of his great joys was the time he spent as a member of the NYC Auxiliary Police Department. He volunteered part-time as an Auxiliary Police Officer for 35 years with the Central Park Precinct receiving an Honorable Discharge in 2005. Ed had a passion for watching sports and was an avid Yankees and Giants fan, with a remarkable memory for everything and anything related to his favorite teams and players.
Ed was predeceased by his brother Howard. Left to cherish his memory is his sister, Jeanette; nieces, Michele and Pamela; nephew, Rafael; his great-nephew, Samuel; and a host of neighborhood friends and work colleagues.
Comments by Niece Michele Steinmkamp at the funeral service Wednesday September 22, 2021.
Thank you all for joining our family today to remember and celebrate the life of my uncle Edward. I know he would be so happy to see each and every one of you here with him this evening. Thank you Rabbi Ackerman for presiding over his service this evening.
Ed was the first-born child of my grandparents Edward and Iris. He was special from the start. Soon he was joined by my mother Jeanette, followed by their younger brother Howard. They didn’t have a luxurious life growing up by any means, but they had what they needed.
My uncle, brilliant in many ways, quirky, and kind, was born with one small area of his brain being built just a little differently than usual. This small change, was what made him his most special and unique self.
After graduating high school, he spent a semester in college before moving on to the job world.
My grandfather who worked for the city at the time, found an ideal job opportunity for his oldest son. Ed then began his career as a life-long city employee, working in the mail room for the Department of Finance. I think he liked it there because he decided to continue for another 52 years. The job was an excellent fit for him. He had a main crew there that he enjoyed going in to see every day. When I say he enjoyed going in to see them every day, I mean every, single, day. He rarely took off, preferring to stick to his usual routine and go into work. At my grandmother’s funeral nearly 30 years ago, one of his coworkers came up and told me what a wonderful and dedicated employee Ed was, and that he could take off the next 2 or 3 years, maybe more, with all his accrued time. I told him at that point to please start taking a day off here and there. As was standard, I think he pretty much ignored my advice. This job also gave him the perfect opportunity to partake in one of his favorite activities. He got to walk around and talk to people, saying hi to all the friends he made while sorting and dropping off some mail while he was at it.
A year or so after he started working for the city, he embarked on his part-time role with the Auxiliary Police. I’m not really sure how he ended up at the Central Park Precinct, but what a perfect fit for him that turned out to be. Morton, as he went by there, loved it. He enjoyed it so much he didn’t even quit when his parents and brother thought it may be too dangerous for him. It brought him great happiness and pride to wear his uniform, go on patrols, and serve the people of NYC. There he made great friends, more like family over the years, that patrolled together, looked out for one another, and from what I hear, enjoyed some great barbeques together. For 35 years he served as an Auxiliary officer at the Central Park Precinct, and I know those were some of the greatest and happiest moments of his lifetime.
My uncle was an extraordinarily kind and happy go lucky guy. Everyone he met was his friend. For years he would tell me about his friends at the MCU, and I would say oh that’s nice uncle Eddie. He’d ask me if I also had friends at my branch of the MCU. I’d tell him sure, we’re friendly enough. After they closed nearly every MCU branch in Manhattan a couple years ago, I finally had to take a trip downtown. When I spoke with the manager, I asked her if she knew my uncle, Edward Morton. Mr. Morton, she exclaimed. Yes, we all know Mr. Morton. One person came over, then another, and another, all to tell me about their friend, Mr. Morton. How he liked to come in regularly to do business, use their change machine, and most especially, how much they would talk together. Their most frequent topic of discussion? The current status of the Yankees of course.
To know Ed was to know how much he enjoyed watching his sports teams, He had the uncanny ability to recall various details about each of the players, the scores of games from years prior and all sorts of random related info. He would tell me how my grandfather used to take him to games as a kid, just the two of them. As he got older, I started to get us tickets to games, sometimes my whole family would join and sometimes it was just the two of us. He may have showed up late and possibly wearing two sweaters in late August, but he’d show up, pick up a program, and be ready to watch. I’m very happy that we had all those times together.
My uncle had an extraordinary memory. He didn’t need a phone to send him a reminder, or a calendar, or a computer to look something up. Sometimes my phone would ring. Early. Like sometimes 5am early.
Michele. It’s your uncle Edward. Do you know what today is?
Uncle Eddieeeeeee. Remember last week when we talked about you calling me at a more reasonable time.
To which he would totally ignore me and continue on with some tidbit of the day. Today is the 17th anniversary of Billy Martin’s crash, he would have turned 78 years old today, click. Or maybe it was time to turn the clocks back, or the anniversary of a family member’s death, or any number of things that were very important and I needed to be aware.
I will miss those early morning calls.
I can’t emphasize enough how extraordinarily kind, gentle and thoughtful he was. He will be greatly missed. I thank you all for being here to remember what a wonderful man we have lost.
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