Adele Morse Platt
Adele Morse Platt died Sept. 30, after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. Her death came just one day before her 88th birthday.
Born in Philadelphia in 1921, Adele Elizabeth was the second daughter of Ida Molly and Sidney Wise. Her father’s family had lived in the area since the Civil War.Her mother’s family, the Ellises, were recent arrivals to America.
During the Great Depression, Sidney moved his young family to Los Angeles, and Adele and her sister Ruth enrolled in John Burroughs Junior High and Fairfax High Schools. Adele made lifelong friends in school.
On a family outing to Murietta Hot Springs in 1940, Adele met businessman Harvey S. Morse, 16 years her senior.The two fell madly in love and married only a few months later. This was to be the first of two wonderful marriages.
Adele’s first two daughters Marjorie and Lois were born shortly after their marriage.Son David and a third daughter, Susan were born in the years following.The childrens’ Aunt Ruth and grandparents were very much part of their lives.
In partnership with his brother Barney and others, Harvey owned lingerie companies and well understood the apparel industry in Los Angeles. Harvey knew that manufacturing was growing in Southern California, and that buyers would want to come to this area on periodic buying trips. They purchased the block between Olympic and 9th, Los Angeles and Main Streets with the intention of developing an apparel center that could rival New York. Beginning in the early ’60s and continuing through the early ’70s, the California Mart was developed to become the largest apparel mart in the world. By making this investment, the Morses helped to make Los Angeles the leading apparel manufacturing center, with an employment base that was to reach a peak in the mid ’90s, when more than 150,000 people were employed directly in the manufacture of apparel, and many more in complementary industries.
Adele was very much a part of her first husband’s career. She was a natural at math, very quick, and not shy when it came to sharing her ideas. She was an ideal partner for Harvey, not only stimulating his lofty vision for Los Angeles, but also nursing him during the occasional illness.
Adele oversaw a very orderly home. Everything was in its place, meals were attended by all at the dining table on a punctual schedule, everyone neat and well-mannered. The only distraction from this sense of order was the ever present dog or two. Adele adored her dogs, Poodles to Great Danes—it didn’t matter. These animals brought her enormous pleasure and she passed on to her children an empathy for creatures in need of care and affection.
In addition to running her home, Adele became a mainstay of her local Haddassah, and volunteered her time at Cedars Sinai Hospital, to which she became a major contributor.She devoted herself to support of the Jewish Home for the Aging, City of Hope, Temple Israel of Hollywood, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Music Center, and many other causes.Charity was a serious business for Adele, and a barometer she used in choosing her friends.
This was passed on to her children. She impressed upon her children the importance of supporting worthy causes.
Travel was Adele’s major luxury. She loved to get up and go, even on the spur of the moment, passport in hand.She and Harvey arrived at LAX one night with no particular destination in mind, just a time for departure, and ended up in Copenhagen.
Harvey’s life and their wonderful marriage ended abruptly in 1979, as the result of his sudden heart attack. This began a new chapter in the life of 58 year old Adele, one that proved wonderful and fulfilling in a very different way.
Adele played tennis, mah jong, and bridge with close friends. She continued an active social life, building very close relationships and cherishing old friends from school.
At a dinner party in 1982, Adele met the recently widowed executive Conrad Platt. The couple began a romance that would continue for 27 fabulous years. And what a couple they made: Adele was very stylish, fit, perfectly coiffed and manicured. Conny, a WW II veteran, was cinema-handsome, tall, athletic, and, as he quickly learned, a perfect match for his adorable new companion. They were married in February, 1983, and enjoyed a marriage of laughter and joy, filled with friends, travel, theater, Hillcrest Country Club, dancing, the [Hollywood] Bowl, the Dodgers, and a growing family.
The two were perfect complements. She was very private in her emotions, while her husband was open. Conny, a natural raconteur, found an avid audience in Adele and her family and friends. Each of them gave time for the other’s interests, relationships, and commitments.
When each of them faced the inevitable familial challenges, the other was there with comfort and guidance. They had large wells of experience from which to draw, and gave lavishly of themselves to each other. This fortuitous pairing gave Adele the opportunity to spend the last quarter century at the center of a very large family, loved unconditionally by a demonstrative husband and offspring almost too many to count.
During the last several years, however, a challenging disease interrupted Adele’s joyous life. The battle against Parkinson’s was arduous. It did not stop cruises, vacations to Hawaii, Thanksgivings in Palm Springs, and European and Asian holidays, but as it wore on, Adele’s body simply was no match.
The medications extended life, but diminished quality. Conny, with the assistance of caregivers Ruby and Jemma, made adjustments to daily life that compensated for the impairment that is inevitable in such circumstances. Adele’s children were constant in their loving care and attention, something she had taught them, never anticipating that her lessons would be used by her kids to comfort their mother. All four coordinated efforts to see to it that Adele was involved in family events and afforded every opportunity to see her offspring as they matured into the productive people she had always wanted.
Despite the care, the illness overcame Adele’s remarkably strong heart and will to live.With Conny holding her hand, she took her last breath at home with her children.
Adele is survived by her beloved Conny and her four children Marjorie (and Stephen) Richards, Lois (and Richard) Reinis, David Morse, and Susan Lebow, who have thus far produced 13 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, with three more on the way. She is also survived by Conny’s son Neal (and Fran) Platt, and their two children.
Services will be held on Oct. 2, at Hillside Cemetery commencing at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please send a donation to the Jewish Home for the Aging, or a charity of your choice.
—Rich Reinis
Richard G. Reinis is an attorney with Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he practices in the law firm’s Business Solutions and Litigation departments. Over the course of his career, he has specialized in apparel-industry issues, including trademark and copyright law, labor and employment matters and licensing and factoring. Adele Morse Platt was his mother-in-law.
