Morton Jaffe

Morton Jaffe died after a brief final illness on December 4, 2024, at age 93. Mort was born in Brooklyn in 1931, the second child of Benjamin and Nan (Kirsch) Jaffe. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School, then worked in the family business, Troy Cooperage. He eventually became the third-generation owner of the company that later took the eponymous name Benton Fibre Drum Company, based in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn until he moved the company to central New Jersey in 1985 and sold it several years later.

Mort married Lois Roth of Yonkers, NY in 1953. They moved their young family from Brooklyn to Greenburgh, NY in 1959. While living there, Mort served his community as a volunteer firefighter and Commissioner with the Fairview Fire Department. They moved again to New City, NY to a new home built for the family with numerous customizations Mort added to the builder’s model plans. Living in New City from 1965-1987, he was known as a capable do-it-yourselfer who was generously available to neighbors in need of a little help around their homes. The family belonged to Temple Beth Sholom in New City, where Mort served as a member of the brotherhood. During these years he also earned a BA and MA in psychology from Pace University.

When Mort moved Benton Fibre Drum Company to NJ, he and Lois moved to nearby Cranbury until the company was sold. After a period of snowbirding to Scottsdale, AZ, Mort again customized a house built for them in Mesa, AZ, where he and Lois moved in 1995. As active retirees, Mort’s numerous volunteer missions in Arizona included the Navigator greeter’s program at Sky Harbor International Airport and ushering at the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, both with Lois. His lifelong interest in the natural sciences inspired him to be a volunteer docent at the Arizona Science Center and his long-time passion for flying led him to volunteer with the Mesa Police Department helicopter unit.

As an adventurous soul and life-long learner, Mort earned credentials as an instrument-rated pilot of single-engine airplanes. After surviving a crash due to mechanical failure, Mort took up piloting a motorboat on the Hudson River. He and Lois notched visits to numerous national parks across the country and attended the Summer Seniors elderhostel program at the University of Utah in Logan, UT every summer for a decade.

After 64 years of marriage, Mort was predeceased by his beloved Lois in 2018. Shortly afterward, Mort returned east where he lived for a while in Franklin Lakes, NJ and most recently in Peekskill, NY. He is survived by three daughters, Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill (Spencer Gill), Allison Jaffe (Ed Friedman), Michelle Jaffe Sherry (Randy) as well as his loyal Rottweiler mix, Sasha. Mort is remembered by multiple generations of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends across the country.

A brief inurnment memorial service to place Mort’s ashes next to Lois will take place 12:30PM, Friday, December 27th, at Beth Israel Memorial Park in Woodbridge, NJ. On one of Mort and Lois’ many road trips, he became an admirer and dedicated supporter of the monumental Crazy Horse Memorial project in South Dakota. Mort would be most honored by any donation made in his memory at https://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/.