From 1947 to 1950, Dr. Kornblum was program director at the Upper Williamsburg Neighborhood Center in Brooklyn, where in 1950 he was supervising a student who was working on a master's degree in social work.
That white student was married to an African American woman. Not only did they house-sit for the Kornblums, but the couples "became lifelong family friends," Allan Kornblum said.
Dr. Kornblum, who earned his doctorate in social research and gerontology at Bryn Mawr College in 1982, helped develop several agencies for the aged in the Philadelphia region, his son said.
Among them are the Action Alliance of Senior Citizens of Greater Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, and the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans.
The 2000 Maggie Kuhn Award was presented at an awards evening sponsored by the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging as part of the Celebrate Your Age Expo at the Convention Center, his son said.
Dr. Kornblum was cochair of both the Delaware County Senior Action Organization and the Social Action Committee of the Sholom Aleichem Club, in the 1980s and 1990s.
Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Dr. Kornblum earned a bachelor's degree from City College of New York in 1941.
He was a spotter in an Army antiaircraft unit in Europe during World War II. After hostilities ended, he was transferred to an information unit for which "he developed a morale-building book discussion program," for Army troops, his son said.
Financed by the GI Bill, Dr. Kornblum earned a master of social work at Columbia University in 1948.
After working for the Upper Williamsburg center, he was program director for the Jewish Community Center in Passaic, N.J., from 1950 to 1952.
He served as executive director at two other Jewish community centers - in Chelsea, Mass., from 1952 to 1960 and in Wilmington from 1960 to 1967.
Besides his son, Mr. Kornblum is survived by his wife, Geraldine; daughters Rena, Phyllis, and Freyda Kornblum; stepdaughters Beverly Celotta and Wendy Lauter; six grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; and two step-great-grandchildren. His first wife, Anne, died in 1975.
A life celebration was set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, at the Quadrangle, 3300 Darby Rd., Haverford.
Contact Walter F. Naedele
at 215-854-5607 or wnaedele@phillynews.com.
