DR. MORTON JULIAN ADELS passed away peacefully on Sunday morning, the 21st of March 2010, at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. He was 77 years old.Morton was originally diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disease, leading to leukemia in 2009. He fought a positive, determined and courageous battle throughout his illness.
Morton was born on the 7th of April 1932 in Houston, Texas to Sadie and Leslie Adels. His family moved to Tyler, Texas where he and his sister, Marlene Roosth, grew up amidst the slow pace of small town life with their grandparents, Millie and Harry Swartzberg. He attended University of Oklahoma majoring in pre-med. While attending OU, he played basketball and was a member of the Phi Lam fraternity. Morton excelled at OU and graduated in 1952 to begin his medical journey at Baylor College of Medicine where he graduated in 1956 with academic honors. From 1956 to 1957, Morton served an internship at University of Pennsylvania Hospital before returning to Houston for a residency in obstetrics and gynecology in the Baylor College of Medicine program.
His training was interrupted by two years as he served as Captain in the United States Air Force, stationed at Shaw Air Force base in Sumter, South Carolina.In 1962, Morton entered private practice in Houston and was a founding member of the OB/GYN Associates. Morton was affectionately known as the Jolly Green Giant due to the green medical scrub suit he would wear while in the operating room. His presence was truly larger than life. Bringing over 4,000 babies into this world was the highlight of his medical career. One of the memorable moments of his career was serving as attending obstetrician for a wife of an Apollo 13 astronaut, with whom he traveled with President Nixon aboard Air Force One to greet the crew in Hawaii as they returned from that historic mission. Morton's love, care and genuine concern for his family and friends extended to his professional life and to all of his patients as well. Morton touched many lives with his kind bedside manner, his clarity in medical matters, and his charismatic personality. He was an admired colleague and was adored by all of his patients.
Morton J. Adels served on the staff of The Methodist Hospital and The Women's Hospital of Texas, and was a member of numerous professional societies, including the Harris County Medical Society, the Texas Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Fertility Society and the Houston Gynecological and Obstetric Society, serving a term as President of that organization.Morton earned the respect and admiration of all who truly knew him, for his keen intelligence, uncompromising integrity, and dedication to always be the best he could be at whatever he did. To that end, his interests outside of medicine were numerous and varied. He mastered a pilot's license for a single-engine aircraft, enjoyed the outdoors, with fishing, big game and bird hunting, tennis and golf, and was an avid coin, knife, gun and thimble collector. Morton was extremely pleased with his hole-in-one at Willowisp Country Club. His knowledge of sports trivia was encyclopedic and he entertained his huge circle of family and friends as a consummate story and joke teller. He will always remain a strong and guiding inspiration to his children, family and friends.
Morton is survived by his loving companion, Cindy Blanks. He was the most devoted father to his five daughters, all who survive him, Dawn Adels Fine of Miami, Florida, Nanci Adels Fine, Jill Adels Klaff, Allison Adels and their mother, Phyllis Mirkin Adels, as well as his daughter, Kelly Adels Hess, her husband, Clive Hess and her mother, Linda Haws Adels. He was a loving grandfather to Tony Holmes and Francesca Fine, Katie Estelle Klaff, Zoey and Juliette Hess. Morton is also survived by his sister, Marlene Roosth, niece, Valerie Wallace and her husband, Michael Wallace and nephew, Michael Roosth and his wife, Tina Roosth, and Cindy Blanks' children, Russell Blanks and Kara Irvine, and her husband, Keith Irvine, and their children, Emory and Korbin Irvine.
The family desires to express their special thanks to Dr. John McCarthy and the Main Building's 8th floor staff of The Methodist Hospital, and also to Dr. Charles Koller of M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Additionally, the family wishes to acknowledge Mary McKelvey for her devoted care and love.
A funeral service, in celebration of Dr. Morton Julian Adels' life, is to be conducted at half-past two o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, the 24th of March, at Congregation Beth Israel, 5600 North Braeswood Boulevard in Houston, where David A. Lyon, Senior Rabbi, and Robert M. Gerber, Cantor, are to officiate.Immediately following the service, the family is to gather for a private interment ceremony at Emanu El Memorial Park in Houston. All are invited to then join the family at half-past six o'clock Wednesday evening for a minyan and reception at the East Four Leaf Tower, 5100 San Felipe Road in Houston.
In lieu of customary remembrances, contributions in memory of Dr. Morton J. Adels may be directed to the American Diabetes Association , 2400 Augusta Dr., Suite 175, Houston, TX, 77057; or to the charity of one's choice.
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