[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 160 (Tuesday, October 17, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S15203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       IN HONOR OF MORTON SPECTER

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, 2 days from today, on October 19, 1993, 
the second anniversary will be marked of the passing of my brother, 
Morton Specter, an honest, hard-working American who paid more than 
enough taxes to be memorialized in a brief statement in the 
Congressional Record.
  I now ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Congressional 
Record the eulogy which I delivered at his funeral in October 1993.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Ours is a very close family, so Morton's passing came as a 
     real shock--not that it was totally unexpected because he had 
     many medical problems--but perhaps a family is never really 
     prepared for the finality of it all.
       The words ``family value'' were never used in the Specter 
     household. It wasn't necessary because we had them without 
     talking about them. They evolved naturally from the example 
     of our parents who struggled to achieve for their children 
     what they never had--education and opportunity. As the oldest 
     of four children, Morton set the example for Hilda, Shirley, 
     and me. None of us would even consider doing less than our 
     best or doing anything to embarrass our parents, considering 
     their sacrifices.
       The 1920's Depression left its mark on Morton at the tender 
     age of ten. From his earliest days, he was a tireless 
     worker--the hardest worker I've ever seen. At 11 or 12, he 
     rode his bicycle on the streets of Wichita delivering bills 
     of lading to railroad offices for Beyer Grain Co. As a 
     teenager, he would go after dark to the golf courses, and 
     wade the lakes to find golf balls which he would make 
     sparkling white with peroxide bleach and sell in downtown 
     office buildings.
       When he wanted to get a job to earn money right after high 
     school, my father talked him into going to Wichita U. for one 
     year which turned into four and a college degree. In college 
     he boxed, careful to protect his strikingly handsome face, 
     and acted in the school plays. He made a short trip to 
     Hollywood when he was 19 or 20--hoping, I think to meet--or 
     maybe even to become another Robert Taylor.
       During World War II he answered the call of his country and 
     went to Officers Candidate School and became an Ensign. We 
     talked about reading the text books at that school after 
     lights were out with a flashlight under his blanket.
       After the war, he sold magazines door to door. His crew 
     chief Walter Lewis said he covered twice as many houses as 
     anyone else. I joined him in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 
     June 1945 and at the first house we visited, where he was 
     showing me the sales speech, the lady complimented him on 
     being a super salesman. When he approached one house, a young 
     girl ran excitedly to the house shouting: ``Mommie, Mommie, 
     here comes Dennis Morgan''--then a famous movie actor.
       After the war he joined our father and Hilda's husband, 
     Arthur Morgenstern, at the Russell Iron & Metal Co.--at first 
     a junkyard, then an oil field equipment company and 
     ultimately modest oil production.
       He worked long hours Monday through Saturday, making 
     telephone calls in the evenings, and on Sundays he would 
     drive to the surrounding counties to look at oil rigs to 
     salvage.
       Morton did find time to meet and marry a beautiful young 
     woman, Joyce Hacker. She stood by his side sharing his 
     strenuous work schedules and the Kansas hot summers and windy 
     cold winters. Last November 19th, they celebrated their 50th 
     anniversary--a very rare quality in modern America. Joyce's 
     steadfast devotion to Morton--especially during the last 
     difficult years--was extraordinary.
       Hilda, Shirley, and I returned to Kansas often to visit 
     Morton and Joyce just as they traveled to our homes--as long 
     as he was able. Our family was always on the telephone. 
     Morton would also often call his nephews and nieces and their 
     children and his aunts and uncles and cousins. He was a 
     generous man, making certain his contribution to Allied 
     Jewish Appeal was completed before the end of each year.
       Morton made many trips to and through Pennsylvania to help 
     on our many campaigns. There's nothing like a brother or a 
     sister traveling upstate to local newspaper and radio 
     stations to talk about their candidate brother.
       When I saw him last Monday at the Wesley Hospital in 
     Wichita, he wanted to know what was going on in the Senate 
     and how Bob Dole was doing.
       Bob's father and our father were friends in Russell more 
     than 50 years ago. In the 1940's Harry Specter weighed 
     truckloads of junk at the Russell Grainery operated by Doran 
     Dole.
       Our parents were very proud of him. How often I heard our 
     mother Lillie Shanin Specter call him her ``Motala.'' He will 
     rest beside her as he expressed his wish during his lifetime 
     in Montelfiore Cemetery. For my sisters and me, he was a role 
     model of integrity and hard work. He was a man of total 
     honesty who valued his good name and impeccable reputation.
       We have not waited until his funeral to tell him how we 
     feel. We have expressed our feelings over the years--by 
     words, but more importantly by deeds--visits and calls and 
     caring.
       For Joyce and our entire family and his many friends--I 
     say: We all loved him very much and we all will miss him very 
     much.

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