MORTON ARONOFF died at his home in Rialto on April 17th at the age of 99. He had been a resident of San Bernardino & Rialto since 1927. He was founder & Chairman of the Board of Gate City Beverage Distributors. He was born in the Ukraine on June 14, 1903 & at the age of ten he came to the United States with his parents & settled in Detroit, Michigan. In 1927 he married Frieda Becker & came to San Bernardino to help operate San Bernardino Bottle Supply, a home-brew supply business. In 1930 he purchased the firm from his father-in-law & in 1934 became the distributor of Tacoma beer, a product of Rainier Brewery. from 1939-1945 San Bernadino Bottle Supply operated out of various locations in the San Bernardino area. In 1946 the company had fifteen employees & moved to Colton & became Gate City Wine & Beer Co., Inc. In 1954 an 11,000 square foot distributing facility was opened in Colton & began distributing fine wines, liquors & beers. After serving as President for many years he became Chairman of the Board in the late 1960's & held that position & continued to work full-time at Gate City Beverage Distributors until his death. Today Gate City has 300 employees. Upon his assuming the position of Chairman of the Board the presidency of Gate City was turned over to his son, Jack Aronoff & in 1988 Leona Aronoff-Sadacca became President & CEO. His grandson, Barry J. Aronoff, currently serves as CEO of the firm. The motto of "House of Quality & Service" guided him & still serves as the guiding principle of Gate City Beverage Distributors. In addition to being actively involved in organizations of the beverage distributing industry & supporting numerous civic organizations he served as President of Paradise Lodge #237 B'nai B'rith for 2 terms. He was a member of Congregation Emanu El in San Bernardino & was instrumental in the construction of the synagogue at 35th & E in 1953 as well as being a benefactor of various remodeling projects & of Home of Eternity Cemetery. In 1999, in recognition of his outstanding service & support he was elected as the only Honorary member of the Board of Directors of Congregation Emanu El for life. He was honored for lifetime achievement by B'nai B'rith & the San Bernardino United Jewish Fund. In 2000 he received the "Second to None" award from the California State Senate & the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors for being the county's oldest worker. He is survived by his wife, Rose, his son Bernard Aronoff, daughter-in-law Leona Aronoff-Sadacca, step-daughter Cherrie Lubey, as well as by eight grandchildren & fourteen great-grandchildren. he was preceded by his son Jack Aronoff & a grandson, Randy Greg Aronoff. Funeral services will be held on Monday, April 21st at 11:00 at Congregation Emanu El, 3512 North E St., San Bernardino with interment following at Home of Eternity Cemetery in San Bernardino. In lieu of flowers the family suggests contributions be made to Congregation Emanu El. Arrangements handled by Aaron Cremation & Burial Services.

Published in Press-Enterprise on Apr. 19, 2003