Edith Morgan

Edith Morgan of San Mateo, California, passed away Sunday, July 20, 2014, 22 Tammuz 5774. Mrs. Morgan, a resilient woman of glamour and warmth, passed at Mills-Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame after a brief illness. She was 93. Services will be held Graveside in Eden Memorial Park, Thursday, July 24, 2014, at 3 PM., and will be officiated by Rabbi Michael Barclay. In lieu of flowers and Shiva gifts, please make a donation in Edith's memory 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.

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 escaped in 1941 in a harrowing journey through occupied France, Spain, and finally Portugal, where she sailed for the United States. 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 passed in 1973, she continued an active social life, as well as volunteering 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, CA. 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-laws, Miriam (Richard), and Linda (Michael); her great-grandchildren, Ariella, Sasha, Oliver, and Jacob; her sister, Violet (Iby) Mainzer of Chicago, Ill; her step-brother-in-law, Tibor Roch (Margo) of Encino, CA; and her many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews around the country.

Arrangements under the direction of Groman Eden Mortuary, Mission Hills, CA.