Hilda Morgenstern

Ft. Lee's Hilda Morgenstern, sister of Sen. Arlen Specter: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice

Record, The (Hackensack, NJ) - Thursday, October 8, 2009 Deceased Name: Ft. Lee's Hilda Morgenstern, sister of Sen. Arlen Specter Pennsylvania's senior senator, Arlen Specter, considered his older sister, Hilda Morgenstern, "a real matriarch of the family" and a valued adviser. "She tackles with equal ease an analysis of the ABM Treaty to help me in my Senate duties or the change of diapers for her new great-grandson," Specter read into the Congressional Record in 1995. Mrs. Morgenstern, 87, of Fort Lee, died Tuesday morning. She was buried that day at Mount Moriah Cemetery of New Jersey in Fairview. The former Hilda Specter was born in Philadelphia and grew up there and in Kansas. She received a degree in public administration from the Municipal University of Wichita, now called Wichita State. She met her husband, Arthur Morgenstern, a serviceman stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., during Rosh Hashanah services at a Wichita synagogue, according to Arlen Specter's tribute. The couple lived many places during their 66-year marriage. They moved to Fort Lee in 2002 after two decades in Israel to be closer to their four children, all of whom are in North Jersey. Mrs. Morgenstern's daughter, Julia Aaron, said her mother was a highly principled woman, well-read in politics and history, an enthusiastic civic volunteer and a wonderful homemaker. A lifelong Democrat, Mrs. Morgenstern and her husband "used to drive around Pennsylvania fund-raising and campaigning" for Specter, who switched party affiliation to Democratic from Republican last spring. Aaron said she does not think her mother had a role in the senator's decision. Specter referred to his sister's move to Israel in his 1995 tribute. "I have urged her to follow the model of Golda Meir, the … American who later became prime minister of Israel. Hilda responded by telling me to become president of the United States first." One month later, Specter suspended his White House bid. In addition to the senator, Mrs. Morgenstern is survived by her husband; her four children, Judith Barzilay of North Bergen, a judge of the United States Court of International Trade, Julia Aaron of Fort Lee, John Morgenstern of Tenafly and Johanna Abraham of Haskell; a sister, Shirley Kety of Elizabeth; 10 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Arrangements were conducted by Eden Memorial Chapels, Fort Lee.

• ** E-mail: levin@northjersey.com Author: JAY LEVIN, STAFF WRITER Page: L06 Copyright (c) 2009 North Jersey Media Group Inc.