BOYNTON BEACH, FL… Morton Deitz of Boynton Beach, Florida, formerly of Trenton, New Jersey, died on September 19, 2018, at Greenwood House, Trenton, New Jersey. He was 97.
A World War II veteran, Mr. Deitz exemplified the saying “If, with your last breath, the world is a better place because you’ve lived in it, you have led an honorable life.” His compassion, generosity, and guidance to so many organizations throughout his lifetime of 97 years had a monumental impact on others.
Mr. Deitz graduated with distinction from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and earned his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Rutgers University. Both a certified public accountant and a member of the bars of New Jersey and New York, he had a distinguished professional career. He was a tax attorney with offices in Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, and New York City.
Mr. Deitz served as first chairman of the New Jersey State Bar Association Section on Taxation. In addition, he served for more than 22 years as law professor at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton University. His students affectionately called him “Doctor Deitz,” a nickname that stayed with him throughout his life.
During World War II, he enlisted in the US Navy Reserve and was assigned to duty aboard the SS John Drayton. On April 21, 1943, in the Indian Ocean south of Madagascar, German U-boats sank the SS John Drayton. Mr. Deitz and twenty-three other survivors escaped aboard a lifeboat designed for twelve. When they were rescued after thirty days at sea, only five remained alive. After recovering in Durban, South Africa, for two months, Mr. Deitz was returned to the United States; physical and mental results of the ordeal would severely affect him for the rest of his life.
After the war, Mr. Deitz was deprived of his veteran status due to the contention of the US Navy that he was technically part of the Merchant Marine at the time of the sinking. Merchant Marines won recognition as veterans in 1988. The change was effected, in part, due to Mr. Dietz’s many decades of diligent work to rectify the injustice. He received the Mariner’s Medal and a personal commendation from President Harry S. Truman for his wartime ordeal.
Mr. Deitz took active leadership roles in community activities. A former board member of the Jewish Federation and of the Jewish Community Relations Council, he was also an active member of the Jewish Family Service for close to three decades, serving a long tenure as treasurer that corresponded with a period of significant growth in the agency’s program of services to the community. He served as the chairman of the Selective Service Board #29 of New Jersey, Mercer County fund raising chairman for the State of Israel Bonds campaign, and was a founding member of the board of trustees of the Commonwealth State Bank, Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Deitz received numerous community honors including the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews and the Ben Gurion Medal from the State of Israel. He was very proud of having been a member of the board of trustees of Helene Fuld Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey, where he was instrumental in the creation of the first dialysis unit outside of Philadelphia.
Mr. Deitz was preceded in death by his wife, Phyllis Pack Deitz. He leaves behind two daughters, Sherri Twer (Marc Fishbein) and Kathi Wachtenheim; three grandchildren, Andrew (Karen) Twer, Joseph (Elizabeth) Twer, and Caren (Joseph) Wachtenheim-Gonsalves; and six great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, September 26 at 11:30 am at Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, 1534 Pennington Road, Ewing, New Jersey 08618. Interment will be at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, 830 Highland Road, Newtown, Pennsylvania, at 1:15 pm.
Donations in his memory may be made to Israel Guide Center for the Blind (israelguidedog.org), Mazon -a response to end hunger (mazon.org), or to JAFCO (jafco.org)