Elaine Finkel was born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, on October 5, 1927. Her father, Harry Finkel, had gone to MIT for two years, but dropped out. He and his wife, Elaine's mother, Lena, opened a candy store in Bay Ridge; the family, including Elaine's brothers Jerome and Bruce, lived on top of the store.
Elaine Adler's activism was evident early. Soon after graduating from Washington Irving High School, she sold U.S. Bonds to support the American government's war effort during World War II. Elaine then graduated with a BA from NYU in 1948. Elaine grew up with her brothers, Jerome and Bruce, and was close to their spouses Ruth and Barbara.
While in college, her brother Jerome introduced her to her lifelong partner in life and business, Myron, whom everyone called Mike, and they married in June of 1949.
Elaine and Mike took great pride in their four children and spouses, to whom she imparted the positive values of philanthropy and support of worthwhile causes.
The Adlers started Myron Manufacturing together in 1949 in New York with only a sewing machine and a heat-sealing apparatus, but as the fledgling company grew, they moved several times to larger quarters. As the company expanded and became a global, direct marketing firm, Maywood NJ became its headquarters. At its peak, Myron Manufacturing employed 1,400 employees in 10 countries.
In addition, Elaine used her business experience to start another venture, Comfortably Yours, a business dedicated to selling products that made people's lives easier and more comfortable.
An indefatigable philanthropist and healthcare advocate, Elaine directed her energy to give voice to those who could not speak for themselves. After her husband Mike suffered a stroke in 1993 and became aphasic they opened the first Adler Aphasia Center in Maywood, NJ in 2003. Today, there are centers in Toms River and West Orange, N.J., in addition to Aphasia Communication Groups throughout New Jersey, as well as an Adler Aphasia Center at Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem, all of which help aphasic individuals redevelop their communication and living skills. Elaine joined the Ramapo College Board of Governors while supporting the College's Annual Fund, student scholarships, and the Gross Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.
In 2010, the Adlers helped fund Ramapo College's Center for Nursing Excellence enabling the school to train nurses with state-of-the-art facilities. A founding member of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, Elaine believed in its mission to champion compassionate, collaborative, and scientifically excellent health care. "Elaine's life and philanthropy included love and compassion for all her fellow human beings - those she knew, as well as those she had yet to meet. She had a desire to keep the 'care in healthcare," according to Sandra O. Gold, founder of the Foundation.
In 1992, Elaine served as an original board member of the Center for Interreligious Understanding, a non-profit that works with international faith organizations. Rabbi Jack Ben Porad, the Center's director described Elaine as "a bridge-builder among the many faiths of her friends, who worked to reconcile differences; as a loyal and generous CIU supporter, she was convinced that peace and the prevention of anti-Semitism would come about if religions appreciated the truth and ethical values in each other's faiths."
Elaine channeled her great energy and dedication to causes that served the Jewish community, including being a long-standing board member of The Jewish Home Family, supporting the Jewish Federations of Northern New Jersey and South Palm Beach, Hadassah, and the JCC of Paramus. Committed to other community organizations, Elaine also championed Gilda's Club of Northern New Jersey, Bergen County's Children's Aid and Family Services, USA Toy Library, and The Fortune Society.
Predeceased by her husband Myron "Mike" in 2015, she was survived by her siblings, Bruce and Jerome; her children, William (Leslie), Richard (Haekyung), James (Dana) and Marie (Saul); her grandchildren, Russell, Olivia, Max, Alex, David, Michaela, Lucas, Harrison, Caroline, Hanna, Edison and Eliana; and her great-grandson Henry.