Jewish War Veterans
honor "Mr. Everything"

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

On Sunday, the Kelkey-Blatt Post 575 of the Jewish War Veterans made its new name official. The ceremony, held at the Casino Deli, 2425 Welsh Road, honored the late Edward Blatt, twice elected as the Lt. Milton Kelkey Post commander, by adding his name to its banner.
Blatt served in the U. S. Navy aboard the USS battleship Iowa during the end of World war II, according to his wife Kay.
However, it was his more than 40 years of service to Jewish war veterans that earned Blatt the posthumous honor. Blatt died last February at age 76, while on a fact-finding mission to Israel and NATO headquarters in Belgium for the Jewish War Veterans.
Blatt, nicknamed "Mr. Everything," not only held the local commander post but served as the national commander of the Jewish War Veterans, president of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, county commander of the Philadelphia County Council, and department commander of the JWV Department of Pennsylvania.
During his tenure as Philadelphia mayor, Gov. Ed Rendell had appointed him a commissioner of veterans affairs, a post that Blatt continued to hold in the administration of Mayor John Street.
"He got all the jobs done. He was the mainstay of the post and became the person who got everything done," said Sanford Silver, a fellow Jewish war veteran.
In the early 1970s, Blatt traveled with other Jewish war vets to Skokie, Ill., to protest a neo-Nazi rally. A photograph of the protest found in his grandson’s textbook, Magruder’s American Government, by William A McClenaghan, is evidence of Blatt’s fight against anti-Semitism.
Blatt not only made history, he witnessed it as well.
As national commander, he was invited to the White House for numerous bill signings and discussions on Israel with President Bill Clinton.
On Sept. 13, 1993, he witnessed the signing of the Middle East peace accord by Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat and Israel’s minister of foreign affairs, Shimon Peres. He was one of only 50 people invited to what at the time was a landmark event.
At the time of his death, Blatt was director emeritus of Haym Salomon Memorial Park in Frazer, a Jewish cemetery operated by Joseph Levine & Son.
"His wonderful sense of humor, love of country and tireless devotion to Jewish families throughout our region, the nation and the world were hallmarks of a life well-spent and deserving of such recognition," said Joseph H. Levine.
Blatt’s widow, Kay, also was honored that the renaming of the post paid tribute to her husband.
"It’s a great legacy. It would have meant everything to him. He didn’t do it for the publicity," she said of his service to Jewish war veterans. "He did it because he believed in it — forty-some years of devotion.
"He was brought into the veterans organization in the early 1960s by my brother-in-law," recalled Blatt’s wife of 43 years. "He fell in love with it. In the funeral business, you need a reason to live and help the people you can help. It probably gave him a purpose he needed."
Kay Blatt, who lived in Northeast Philadelphia with her husband for most of their married life, remembers watching him at a funeral when he held on to children whose parents had died, expecting nothing in return.
"He had a charisma that was very special," she said. "He attracted people, could sway people, get charities to work with him, which he did — many, many people throughout the world."
Kelkey Post commander Steve Zeitz agreed.
"(Eddie) held every position, post offices, department offices, national offices, even the National Man of the Year, which he received posthumously," Zeitz said.
The title that Zeitz remembers Blatt best for, however, is true friend.
"He was a great friend to everybody. He was my adviser. I miss him a lot," he said. ••
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com