My Father, Edward Abramson, Died

[Larry]

Obituary: Edward Abramson, formerly Majority Whip of the NYS Assembly

Edward Abramson, who served in the NYS Assembly from 1973 to 1991, passed away in Chiangmai, Thailand on May 10, 2012 at the age of 91 years, after a gradual decline in health over the past year. The immediate causes of death were pneumonia and kidney failure.

Edward Abramson (Eddie) was born on September 21, 1920 in Manhattan to Charles and Mollie Abramson. He spent his childhood and youth in Brooklyn, and eventually graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. Growing up during the Great Depression, Edward Abramson would sell newspapers each evening in Downtown Brooklyn together with his mother, who had been left alone, his sister Evelyn and his brother Irving. On Mother’s Day 1935, his struggling family’s fortunes took a sudden turn for the worse, when Mollie was arrested and jailed for the ”crime” of selling newspapers at curbside. Through the help of a sympathetic reporter from the NY Daily News, Eddie and his siblings found themselves ushered into the presence of Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia, who listened to their account, and order Mollie freed. Within a few days, the Mayor got the Board of Aldermen to pass a local law enabling the issuance of licenses to curbside newsdealers. Mollie got the very first such license issued. This episode imbued Eddie with a strong sense that government could be used to fight injustices in society on a person by person basis. He would bring this strong conviction to his later career as a full-time Assemblyman, where he eschewed the headlines, and instead concentrated on serving his constituents on an individual basis.

Eddie fought in World War II as one of three members of the S-3 unit of the 399th Regiment of the 100th Division. The unit, which coordinated the movements and communication for the entire Regiment, was a prime target for the Nazis, who sought to create chaos and many ”friendly fire” deaths by knocking out the unit. Several times, Eddie came close to being killed, including one morning during the Battle of the Bulge when the members of the unit were shocked to see an unexploded 88 shell resting next to the door.

Eddie would often recount a story that happened to him as a member of the Army of Occupation, stationed in Stuttgart, Germany. At Kol Nidre services on Yom Kippur, 1945, he encountered a woman who believed her sister had died with many of her family members. She told Eddie that her sister had lived in Paris before the war. Eddie spent his much-valued three-day leave in Paris to track down the sister. On the last day, after many dead ends, he found her and gave her news that her sister had survived the Holocaust. When they turned around, Eddie was already gone. He used to joke that they must have thought they met Elijah the Prophet, disguised as a GI. Eddie was honorably discharged, having been awarded the Bronze Star and other citations.

After the war, Eddie returned to support his family. About a year later, he met Gloria Schwartz of Brooklyn whom he would wed in 1948, and enjoy a happy marriage with for more than 63 years. After a series of unsuccessful business ventures ranging from advertising to boxing promotion together with his brother, Irving, Eddie faced bankruptcy. In 1960, nearly penniless with a wife and two young children to support, Eddie took a job as a printing salesman in Long Island City. Within a year or two, he was earning well, and in 1964, moved his family from Brooklyn to the new housing development of Rochdale Village, in Southeast Queens.

In this new community of almost 6,000 families, Eddie started a much appreciated local newspaper, Inside Rochdale, which he would continue to publish for many years. Due to his full-time civic involvement and caring personality, he served as a delegate to the 1964 Democratic Convention and was eventually elected Democratic District leader in 1966. In the fateful year of 1968, Eddie became one of only two public figures in Queens to back Robert Kennedy’s presidential bid. Unfortunately, RFK was assasinated a couple of weeks before the NY primary. At that time, primary candidates were presented in columns on the voting machines, and as RFK was dead, few people voted his column, which resulted in Eddie losing his reelection bid for District Leader.

In the 1972 legislative redistricting, Queens gained an Assembly District, the 32 A.D., which was sharply divided between blacks and whites. As the only candidate acceptable to both, Eddie won election to the Assembly, and served as an Assemblyman for 18 years. After serving as the Chair of the Elections Committee, and Majority Conference, Eddie was elected Majority Whip in 1985.

During the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when York College (CUNY) was slated to close, Eddie galvanized the community in torchlight demonstrations to bring pressure to bear to save the college. He often pointed to this as one of his proudest accomplishments.

Despite his position, Eddie remained accessible and unpretentious. Many lobbysts and others would be surprised when they realized that the diminutive, smiling man at the typewriter in the front office was not a clerk but the Majority Whip. He often remarked that he had won the typing prize at High School, and could type faster than any of his secretaries. Eddie helped thousands of people in his district by means of a fairly simple method. He would ask a consitutent with a problem to describe his or her situation in writing, personally interview them, and then figure out which State agency was responsible. Next he would append his own letter to that of the constituent, and send them both to the head of the agency in question. This technique rarely failed to produce the desired result. Eddie was not interested in garnering headline publicity, but instead genuinely enjoyed helping people overcome their difficulties. La Guardia was his personal hero, and he never forgot the Mayor’s intercession during his adolescence. Much like La Guardia, Eddie’s smile and warmth, honesty, self-deprecating humor, and generosity of spirit were his trademark.

The result of all this personal attention was that he was elected nine times to serve a majority black district during a period of unprecedented racial animosity. By bringing groups from black and white areas together, he was able to forge multi-racial coalitions for civic improvment. His elevation to a leadership role in the Assembly enabled him to bring jobs and funding to his district.

Eddie’s own record was remarkably clean, and untouched by scandals. While he was the Chair of the NYS Statue of Liberty Centennial Commission, for example, political opponents arranged for an audit of that commission. After going through all the books and records and finding nothing untoward, the auditor asked to see the records of the discretionary fund given into the control of the Chair. At that time, there was an unwritten rule that these funds in the various commissions were not checked. Consequently, they were often abused and pocketed, and few, if any, records were kept of this type of ”petty cash”. When confronted, Eddie admitted there were no records of his commission’s discretionary fund. When asked why, he responded that the money had never been withdrawn from the bank! The audit was promptly dropped.

In March 1989, after a long spate of drug-related street killings, some with police as victims, Eddie reached the conclusion that the reinstatement of the death penalty would act as a deterrant, and announced he was changing his vote on the yearly death penalty bill, so that only one more vote would be required to override Governor Mario Cuomo’s veto. The reaction did not take long in coming. At the party designation meeting, Eddie was not even invited to speak to the district leaders and was unaware that an impromptu discussion was being held in his absence. A few moments later, County Leader Thomas Manton quickly annouced that the 18 year veteran of the Assembly was simply to be denied the designation. Eddie, though, was determined not to go down without a fight.

However, the political landscape of the district had changed. 1n 1988, as part of Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign, many new black voters appeared on the roles. Unfortunately, for a large number of them, race was the only issue. When the primary came two years later, much of the district was covered in pictures of Eddie and Vivianne Cook, with a caption that indicated that she was ”one of us” and he wasn’t. As a result, Eddie narrowly lost the primary, and this ended his career in the Assembly.

Eddie and Gloria later moved to Cedarhurst, where their daughter, Chana, lived. They enjoyed a quiet retirement, which included trips to Israel to see their son, Larry. In fact, in 1998, they almost moved to Israel.

Later, as Eddie’s health declined, he and Gloria moved to Chiangmai, Thailand, where Larry was living, and have been there ever since. He became a favorite of the neighborhood and the Thai staff.

Eddie has been involved in a host of Jewish, veteran’s, civic, educational and fraternal organizations during much of his life, and has received hundreds of awards and certificates of recognition over the years.

Eddie is survived by his wife, Gloria, their children, Lawrence B. Abramson (formerly a lawyer in NY, and now a translator) and Chana Cohen (a university teacher in Israel) and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He will be sorely missed.

The funeral will take place in Meitar, Israel on the afternoon of Monday, May 14. The family will sit shiva at the home of Chana Cohen in Meitar.

Prepared by Lawrence B. Abramson

[Gonzo the Face]

I must say at the outset that I did not know the man. But the death of someone close, someone loved is always a sad occasion. I offer my condolences to the family and request an eternal peace for Mr. "Eddie".

While reading this obit, I could not help but be reminded of a long time ago TV program in the US. Tied to New York as well, and that being the program " The Naked City". Mr. Eddie certainly had a full and interesting life, the facts of which would certainly not be known to many in Chiang Mai. It would make you wonder how many limited life stories , of great interest, there are in Chiang Mai.

Mr. Eddie, may you rest in eternal peace. ...... and to take a bit of paraphrasing liberty, " There are 8 million stories in the city, this is but one of them".

Again condolences to the family and ...... stay strong.

g

[mcgriffith]

Sorry to hear of the passing of your father, Larry.

Sounds like he had a very long and full life.

My condolences to you and your family.

[uptheos]

Thank you for sharing this small piece, of what must have been a very full and interesting life.

I wish you long life.

My condolences to your family.

[trainman34014]

Sadly I did not know your Father Larry but it is obvious that he was a clever, kind and thoughtful man that spent a large part of his life trying to do his best for Humankind. My Condolences to you and your family and may your Father rest in a well earned peace.

[onthedarkside]

My condolences to you and your family.

[Larry]

Thank you all so much. I will read all your kind comments to my mom and daughters.

[realthaideal]

It's nice to see a real community use of the forum here, Larry. I know only a few of us here may have met your father, but what an interesting story of his life you've shared. I last saw him when 2 of your daughters were visiting a few months back, and I could see his happiness to be in a loving house with his family from all around the world there. You 'did good' taking care of him (and still) your mom by having them here and looking after their needs. You aren't alone in that. I think there might very well be a few dozen families where kids have imported their elderly parents to CM to look after them and provide for them a decent standard of living with affordable medical care as well. I could even see a group for expats who do this coming together some day for occasional meetings to strategize, commiserate, and celebrate all that caring for aging parents entails.

Your Dad was a good guy. And you did well by him. The resemblance of you and your kids to both your parents shows that he lives on. Sixty-three years of marriage, that's outstanding. May he rest in peace. And strength to you and your family.

[ThaiPauly]

Sounds like he led a full and exciting life.

My condolences to you and your family

[vagabond48]

I met your father on several occasions. He had an aura of calmness about him and a kind, warm and smiling face. You would never know that he had such a diverse, interesting and public life.

My deepest condolences to your Mom, you and your family.

[junglechef]

What a wonderful story. Our family's thoughts are with you all.

[Larry]

I want you all to know how much comfort your responses give us. Thank you! And yes, I know other people who've "imported" elderly parents to Chiangmai. It's not always easy, but certainly doable. Good staff is not expensive here, and homecare can really work. Hospitals like CM Ram are better than most places you find in the West. Above all, it beats getting old, sick and dying in an uncaring nursing home in the US or other countries, where the rapidly rotating personnel may just view you as an object who happens to be occupying that given bed for the present, and soon will be replaced by another fungible unit.

[el jefe]

Larry,

My sincerest condolences to you and your family. Your father was a real mensch.

[sunjunkie56]

What a lovely obituary.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[edwinclapham]

I want you all to know how much comfort your responses give us. Thank you! And yes, I know other people who've "imported" elderly parents to Chiangmai. It's not always easy, but certainly doable. Good staff is not expensive here, and homecare can really work. Hospitals like CM Ram are better than most places you find in the West. Above all, it beats getting old, sick and dying in an uncaring nursing home in the US or other countries, where the rapidly rotating personnel may just view you as an object who happens to be occupying that given bed for the present, and soon will be replaced by another fungible unit.

Your last sentence is so important. I think its classed as a "good death" being surrounded by caring loving people.

Your father obviously was an amazing man and may his spirit live on amongst you all.

Very best wishes

Eddie