He was a Harrisburg businessman and a person who served on the board of the directors of numerous organizations in central Pennsylvania.
Morton Spector died Sunday at the Homeland Center in Harrisburg, one of the numerous groups where he served as a volunteer. He was 89.
Spector was born in Williamsport, served in the military and entered the family business, D&H Distributing Company. He later became the firm’s treasurer and vice president, according to his obituary.
Both D&H and the Spector family moved to Harrisburg when the company became a Philco distributor. The company later dropped Philco and signed a deal with RCA for the entire central Pennsylvania territory. RCA would become a major part of D&H over the years as would Whirlpool. Spector and his wife, Alyce, traveled throughout the world with RCA and Whirlpool executives, the obituary said.
The company first set up shop in Harrisburg on Cameron Street and later moved to its current location on Seventh Street in 1952. The company plans to move to a larger location in Lower Paxton Township and is one of the largest private companies in Pennsylvania. Spector retired in 1998 from D&H and he and his son, Harry, then co-founded Design House Kitchens & Appliances LLC.
In addition to being a business leader, Spector was a leader of numerous nonprofit organizations.
Over the years, he served as president or chair of many organizations including Boys & Girls Club of Harrisburg, Crime Stoppers of Dauphin County, Dauphin County Library System, Harrisburg Council of the Jewish National Fund, Harrisburg Public Schools Foundation, Homeland Center, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Home, Pinnacle Health Foundation, Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Salvation Army of Harrisburg, Silver Academy, Silver Academy Foundation, United Jewish Community, United Jewish Federation, and the United Way of the Capital Region, according to his obituary.
Community was a part of Spector’s life since childhood, according to a 1989 Patriot-News article.
“My mother and father had both been involved in charities when we lived in Williamsport and I think it became a part of our family’s way of life,” he told the paper in 1989.
Spector had concentrated on working with local organizations and had continued to add to his workload through his inability to say “no”, the article said.
“People asked me [to get involved] and I would say, ‘yes,' " he said at the time. “I was able to participate and contribute something and evidently they liked it and said, ‘Keep coming and keep doing.”’
Barry Ramper II, president and CEO of Homeland Center, called Spector humble and considerate. Spector was a past chair of the organization and a board member for many years.
“His leadership skills were outstanding and (he) looked – as he did with all organizations – to have others that were fully committed to strive to have the mission of the organization met at the highest level possible,” Ramper said of Spector.
Jennifer Ross, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Center said Spector was a ‘mensch.”
“He was an amazing board member of ours,” she said. “He was an asset to our entire community – both the Jewish Community and the secular community. It is a loss to our entire community that he is gone."
Ross said Spector served as a board member of the Jewish Community Center for decades and served each organization with all of his heart.
“He truly gave 100 percent to everything he did,” she said.
Allen Geckle, chief executive officer for the Jewish Home of Greater Harrisburg said that Spector served on the organization’s board of directors for more than three decades including as president from 1995 to 1997, and noted his energy, commitment and passion for the organization.
“He was very instrumental in the growth of the home over the years and in the successful preservation of the home several years ago during some financial challenges,” he said.
Kathy Anderson-Martin, director of resource development at The Salvation Army Harrisburg Capital City Region, called Spector a man of integrity and character.
“He was a man who loved his family, loved his community, and did everything with 120 percent,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
Anderson-Martin said Spector served on the Salvation Army’s board for many years and was the organization’s longest serving board member. For the past eight years, the organization has been planning a new headquarters that is currently being built on 29th Street in Harrisburg. She said Spector wanted to live to see the day when it would be built, but, she says he was thrilled that it was finally under construction. The building is expected to be completed in September.
Anderson-Martin said Spector led by example and said he never asked anyone else to do more than what he was willing to do.
“There are people that talk and there are people that do,” she said.
Anderson-Martin said one of Spector’s good leadership qualities was his ability to recruit other volunteers. One of those volunteers was Kathleen Pavelko, who recently retired as president and CEO of WITF.
Pavelko knew Spector because he was a donor to WITF, and Spector later recruited her to be on the Salvation Army’s advisory board. She said she was grateful to Spector for recruiting her to be on the advisory board. She said that Spector was very passionate and always looked for the next achievable goal and to the future.
Pavelko also remembers Spector taking part in the Salvation Army’s annual Shoe Strut – an event that attracts hundreds of people, mostly women. She said Spector attended the Shoe Strut almost every year.
“He would get into the spirit of the event by wearing his flashiest shoes,” she said.
Spector is survived by his wife Alyce (Grunberg) Spector of Paxtang, three children, four grandchildren and one great grand child. Spector’s funeral was held on Tuesday at Beth El Temple in Harrisburg.