Mark and Addie Lelyveld Biographies
Adelaide (Addie) Lelyveld
January 30, 1923 – July 10, 2023
Written by Addie Lelyveld, with help from Philip Lelyveld
Adelaide (Addie) Katz was born on January 30, 1923 in Brooklyn, NY to David and Maryjane Katz, of Weisport, Pennsylvania. In 1923, Weisport was a dingy town where Jews were chased home from school with epithets ringing in their ears on a regular basis. In 1935 her parents lost their home in the depression, and the family had to move in with her mother’s mother in Brooklyn. Addie went to Junior High #149. In 1937 her father started a scrap yard business in Stroudsburg, PA and was able to reunite the family there when she was a sophomore in high school. Addie spent most of her childhood in Stroudsburg. She was active in the Stroudsburg High School debating team, played leading lady in her senior play, and captained the girls’ basketball team.
It was on a trip to New York City while a high school senior that she first ran into Mark Lelyveld, her future husband, while on a double date with Mark's roommate. Mark was a graduate student at Columbia University’s School of Journalism in NYC. Addie and Mark stayed in touch through mutual friends, but they didn’t date until later. Addie, in fact, became engaged to Mark's roommate. But she was never serious about it, and broke it off and returned the ring.
After graduation in 1940, Addie entered East Stroudsburg Teachers College. In 1941, caught up in the excitement of wartime, she took the government exam, dropped out of college, and took a position in the procurement division of the Treasury Department in Washington DC. After Mark graduated from Columbia School of Journalism, and a few months after Pearl Harbor, he joined the Army and was stationed in Virginia. She got to visit with him whenever he was able to get a pass to leave the base. Addie decided to enter New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital for nursing training. Then Mark was shipped to the University of Pittsburgh as a Personnel NCO, where he rose through the ranks to Technical Master Sergeant. They were married on October 8, 1944, one week after he proposed to her. The wedding was in the Café Royale, with about 50 family members and friends from both sides looking on. The Rabbi, who had officiated at a Bar Mitzvah earlier that day, was slightly drunk. Mark was shipped to Camp Lee, Va. just before Christmas, 1944. A teary Addie returned to Stroudsburg to stay with her parents until Mark found an apartment for them near the base. Their first child, Susanne, was born on November 21, 1945.
When the war ended, they moved to Rockland, Mass, where Mark’s father, Abraham Lelyveld, ran Lelyveld Shoe Store; a store he founded in 1911 that specialized in orthopedic fitting. Mark looked into getting his old job at the New Bedford Standard Times in New Bedford, CT. back, but the salary they offered wasn’t enough to raise a growing family on. Mark and Addie moved into a rundown duplex at 46 Exchange St., Rockland. In 1946 Mark and his brother, Edward, took over control of the shoe store from their father, although Abraham continued to work at the business for many years afterwards.
Addie became a socially active homemaker. She founded the Rockland Parent-Teachers Association. She did this because the Principal at Jefferson Elementary School called her to say that the school needed playground equipment for the children to play on at recess. She went around to the merchants in town and asked for donations. Through her PTA work she was able to involve many of the parents in school-related activities.
She was also a Girl Scout Leader. The Girl Scout troop that she ran, and to which her daughter Susanne belonged, was the first in Rockland to have scouts make it to Senior Scout. Because they were the first Senior Scout troop in the town, they were asked to lead the Rockland Veterans Day Parade.
Addie also helped organize Rockland’s small Jewish community. A Sunday school was established in the rooms above the shoe store, and High Holiday services were held at the Rockland VFW Hall.
Mark and Addie’s son Steven was born on August 25, 1948, and son Philip on September 2, 1952. After living in the Exchange St. apartment, and then in a house that they had built at 25 Howard St., Mark and Addie moved the family to 40 Butternut Lane in 1959, where they lived ever since.
Addie Lelyveld was a driving force behind the Rockland Visiting Nurse Association for over 27 years, and served as its President from 1962-1965. At the close of her presidency, she was invited to stay on as Senior Advisor. Her husband, Mark, served as financial advisor to the group. She held this position for many years, and received Letters of Commendation from the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Senate thanking her for her dedication and good works. When she asked Rep. Flynn why she was singled out for this honor, he said ‘because I can count on you for 1000 votes.’
In partnership with the Lions Club, the Rockland Visiting Nurse ran a free glaucoma testing clinic for the citizens of Rockland. Addie recruited Ophthalmologists from Massachusetts General Hospital to come to Rockland and conduct the tests.
During her tenure with the Visiting Nurses she also established the Boston College student nurse program, in which students learned their profession while providing services to the Rockland community. She made Tuberculosis testing available to all citizens and school children, and initiated a program for Polio vaccines for preschoolers. The Rockland Visiting Nurse also ran a ‘well child clinic’ for pre-kindergarten children so they could get their necessary shots before starting school.
Exhibiting strong management skills during her presidency, she moved the organization from an operational deficit to a small surplus while providing services to almost 4000 individuals annually, including free services to over 2000 individuals in the era before Medicare and other government-supported health programs were available to citizens.
In 1966, when her youngest child was in the 7th grade, she decided that she wanted to earn a paycheck again. She told Mark to either give her a job at the shoe store or she would go to work somewhere else. He hired her. She learned all aspects of the business and soon became Lelyveld’s Shoe Store’s star salesperson. She was especially good at working with little children who didn’t like trying on new shoes. She drove into Boston to pick up the shoes when the shipments were running late. She loved all aspects of working there, and continued to do so until Lelyveld’s Shoe Store was sold in 1979.
In the early 1970s she was asked to serve for four years on the Rockland Finance Committee.
Strong advocates of education and life-long learning, Mark and Addie supported all three children through their undergraduate education; Susanne at Lesley, and both Steven and Philip at Tufts.
Years later, in 1974, when Susanne left her South African husband and returned to the US with her two children, David and Michelle, Mark and Addie took them in and supported them while Susanne started her teaching career in the Rockland school system.
Addie has been an avid and highly skilled bridge player throughout her adult life, and continued to play bridge with her bridge club into retirement. She and Mark also developed a new, second circle of friends while spending many winters at the Oakwoods apartments in Marina del Rey, California, near her son Phil and grandson David, Susanne’s son.
Mark died on October 25th, 2007. Addie spent the next two years mourning her loss and staying active in her Rockland, Mass community. Finally, on November 4, 2009, she got tired of it and flew out to stay with her son Philip in Culver City, Ca. She came out with one suit case and said it was for 2 weeks, but ended up staying over 14 years.
She discovered that Culver City has an excellent Senior Center, with a wide variety of classes and social events. She made yet another new circle of friends in Culver City. She became a much sought-after bridge partner, took up knitting as part of a team making hats and scarves for veterans, the homeless, and children with cancer, and did various volunteer work. She was active in the Merry Makers, and attended Senior Center board meetings. In June, 2015 she was selected to be Senior of the Month at the Culver City Senior Center. She maintained her friendships back in Rockland, which remained her primary residence, via the phone, Zoom, and email.
Adelaide Lelyveld passed away quietly in her sleep early Monday morning, July 10, 2023. She said that she had lived a long and happy life, and at 100 years old she was ready to go.
In accordance with her wishes, Adelaide Lelyveld's ashes will be scattered in the waters of Cape Cod as well as placed in Plymouth Cemetery. A memorial stone for her will be placed next to her husband's grave in Plymouth, Mass.
Donations can be made in her name to support the Rockland EMTs who came to the house many times when she and Mark needed them. Send donations to; Town of Rockland, PO Box 542, Rockland, MA 02370 ATTN Fire Department Donation
See the 22 minute video of the Celebration of Life for Addie, held at the Culver City Senior Center on August 7, 2023, here
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Mark Lelyveld
August 3, 1918 - October 25, 2007
Written by Mark Lelyveld, with help from Philip Lelyveld
Mark Lelyveld was born on August 3, 1918. He grew up at 129 Pacific St in Rockland, the son of Miriam and Abraham Lelyveld. In the late 1920’s he lived through the Scarlett Fever epidemic that weakened and eventually took the life of his younger brother, Abraham Jr., in 1931. He started working at Lelyveld‘s Shoe Store, a staple of Union Street commerce founded by his father in 1911, when he was in the 5th grade. While a student at Rockland High School he played trombone in the band, played varsity football, was an Honor Society member, and was the editor of the school newspaper and yearbook. Mark graduated from RHS in 1936, in the heart of the great depression. His class wore paper caps and gowns to the ceremony. He then went to Bates College. He majored in economics and sociology, but his real interests were writing and journalism. He was business manager of the literary magazine, the Garnet, and the humor magazine, the Buffoon, as well as Editor of the Bates weekly student newspaper.
Upon graduation in 1940 with an AB degree, he headed off to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. It was there, on a double date with another girl, that he met Addie (Adelaide) Katz. Addie was his roommate's date. Late at night, over a cup of coffee at Chock-Full-Of-Nuts, he told his roommate that if the roommate did not marry Addie, he certainly would some day. Mark did not make a play for Addie’s affections that night, but he kept track of Addie’s personal situation through mutual friends as he completed the Columbia program. Addie, in fact, became engaged to his roommate, but was never serious about it and broke it off.
Mark earned his MS degree, but skipped his Columbia graduation ceremony to begin a job as police and city hall reporter for the New Bedford Standard-Times. On February 15, 1942, soon after Pearl Harbor, he was sworn into the Army. He advanced from Corporal to Master Sergeant. Throughout this period he stayed in touch with Addie. On October 1st, 1944 he asked her to marry him. One week later they were married in New York City’s Café Loyale, with about 50 family members and friends from both sides looking on. Their first child, Susanne, was born on November 21, 1945.
After the war Mark found that journalism could not pay the bills for a growing family, so he went to work full time at Lelyveld’s Shoe Store, with his father and his brother Edward. The name Lelyveld became synonymous with feet and foot health to many locals. Aside from regular men’s, woman’s, and children’s shoes, the store was a pioneer in orthopedics. Edward was a trained podiatrist. So were Mark’s uncle Joseph and brother Benjamin; who had separate podiatric practices in Rockland. Doctors and podiatrists throughout the area sent their patients to Lelyveld’s for fittings, orthopedic shoes, and custom-made prescription footwear. The store was the largest independent retailer of Stride Rite shoes in New England and a retailer of E.T. Wright shoes, a high-end men’s shoe manufactured in Rockland. Lelyveld’s Shoe Store closed on Wednesday afternoons, in concert with other Union Street retailers. It was an opportunity to travel to Boston to bring out new shoes to restock the shelves. A record was kept for every customer, and cards were mailed three months after every purchase inviting customers to come in for a no-obligation check-up to make sure that their shoes still fit. This was greatly appreciated by busy parents of growing children.
Mark was active in the Rockland Merchants Association and the Rockland Chamber of Commerce, which coordinated marketing and community service work among the local merchants, including funding the holiday lights along Union St. In 1946 Mark and Edward took over control of the shoe store from their father, although Abraham continued to work at the business for many years afterwards. Mark handled the finances, and Edward took care of buying.
Mark and Addie’s son Steven was born on August 25, 1948, and son Philip on September 2, 1952. After living at 46 Exchange St. and then the house they had built at 25 Howard St., Mark and Addie moved the family to 40 Butternut Lane in 1959, where they have lived ever since. Addie started working at the shoe store in 1966, when Philip was in the 7th grade. She soon became the star salesperson, especially for little children who didn’t like trying on new shoes.
The Lelyveld family was very active in the local community, and Lelyveld’s Shoe Store was an unofficial center for discussing local politics and community development.
Abraham Lelyveld founded the Rockland Credit Union in 1922, and served as its President for 47 years. Mark served on the Board of Directors from November 1956 until November 1982, and on the Loan Committee from 1955 to 1982. From 1956 to 1982 the assets of the Rockland Credit Union grew from $975K to $138M.
Mark was a part of the drive to establish Rockland’s Housing Authority in 1964 lead by Town Clerk Ralph Belcher. On March 8, 1966, the town accepted the final plans for a proposed 7 building, 42 unit Housing for the Elderly project on 2 ½ acres “easterly of Spring St. and southerly of Market St.” The project was named Studley Court in memory of Ezekial R. Studley, who played a prominent role in establishing the Town or Rockland when it was set apart from Abington in March, 1874 and who also served as Rockland’s first Town Clerk. Mark was elected Assistant Treasurer of the Housing Authority, and Studley Court was opened for occupancy on June 1, 1967. In 1972 the Town approved an expansion of the program, including additional construction. Seventeen apartments in Rockland Place became available to elderly citizens in 1973 under the state’s low-income program. In Mark’s final year of service on the Housing Authority, 1977, Federal funding for 40 additional units for the elderly and handicapped was finally approved. Garden Terrance on Albion St. was dedicated on October 3, 1982. The Rockland Housing Authority paid for all of its projects through state and federal subsidies as well as income from the properties, taking nothing from the Town budget.
Lelyveld ‘s Shoe Store was sold in 1979. It was a highly personal business, and the new owners did not adjust to the expectations of the clientele. The store closed soon afterwards.
Mark and Addie have remained active in the local community throughout their retirement. For many years they funded an annual college scholarship given to a student who has demonstrated strong academic achievement. They also developed a new, second circle of friends by spending many winters at the Oakwoods apartments in Marina del Rey, California, near his son Phil and grandson David, Susanne’s son.
Mark Lelyveld, 89, of Rockland, died on Thursday October 25th 2007 at the South Shore Hospital. Funeral Services were at 12:30 PM on Friday, October 26th at the Magoun-Biggins Funeral Home followed by burial in Vine Hill Cemetery in Plymouth. Memorial donations may be made to the Rockland Fire Department Equipment Donation Fund, P.O. Box 542 Rockland, MA 02370.
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Obituary - Adelaide (Addie) Katz Lelyveld
Adelaide Katz Lelyveld, born January 30, 1923, died July 10, 2023. Leaving three children; Susanne Lelyveld Wittenberg, Steven Lelyveld, and Philip Lelyveld, three grandchildren; Michelle Chachus, David Wittenberg, and Katie McCormick Lelyveld, and five great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, Mark Lelyveld, who died on October 25, 2007. Donations in Addie's memory may be made to Temple Beth Jacob, PO Box 3284, Plymouth, Mass. 02361, and to support the Rockland EMTs who came to the house many times when she and Mark needed them. Send donations to; Town of Rockland, PO Box 542, Rockland, MA 02370 ATTN Fire Department Donation