He will be missed. Everyone I’ve talked to that knows him has said the same or similar things: “He was a great guy.” He will be missed, though most of the people who knew and loved him, are already gone.
Mort was 92, an amazing accomplishment, especially for someone who had struggled for breath for over 20 years. His lung capacity was 35% prior to his fall. Though his live had been difficult for the past few years, he never lost his sense of humor, his concern for others, or his desire to play just one more hand of Texas Hold’em.
He told me more than once that he’d won over 60 poker tournaments – not the World Series of Poker, but some local and some no-so-local tournaments. This didn’t include the gin tournaments he used to prefer, nor did it count the many exactas, trifectas, or pick sixes that he won on the horses. These were the first things he would list as his accomplishments.
My list for him, would be different. Mine would include many others, things that he wasn’t necessarily aware of, but they were the things that made him who he was. Being, and staying, married to Helen for 63 years. Acting as the best ambassador that Palm Springs ever had (no one could convince him there was a better place to live). His openness and approachability - he could strike up a conversation with anyone, often opening with an off-the-wall yet somehow appropriate observation, and if he got you to smile, so much the better. Being the head of a loving and happy family, for whom he would do anything in his power. He defined what a grandfather is supposed to be, and he had no end of stories to share with his grandchildren: Creah, Balen, and Kyla. Whether they were about life, love, gambling, or any other topic, he loved to tell them, and they loved to listen. And although they weren’t quite old enough to listen, he could always hold the attention of his great-grandchildren, Sydney and Coby, who both looked just like Mort when they were born.
Our hope in setting up this blog goes beyond giving Mort a presence in cyberspace that he never enjoyed in life. The computer age completely passed him by, but he would have been dangerous had he ever figured it out. It’s more an opportunity for those who knew him to share a favorite story or two about him. Mort wasn’t interested in a memorial service of any kind. He wanted all of us to just go about our business and not fuss about his “leaving the table” early.
We couldn’t let him go that easily, that quietly, or without sharing our great love for him with others. He was enough of a character that there are more than a few “Mort stories” out there.
Please take some time to write down a favorite memory of Mort (no middle name) Weissman, and add it here. Remember to come back another time, and see what other stories have accumulated. Any and all comments are welcome, thank you for sharing.
We’ll love you always Mort,
Laurel (and all the Weissmans, Gores, MacGlashans, Walls, and soon-to-be Steins)
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