In services officiated by Rabbi Aaron Kopikis of Congregation Ner Tamid, Astor was remembered for his love of his family and friends, his sweetness and generosity, and his love for horseracing.

His nephew, Sanford Astor, expressed mock surprise that Astor would allow himself to die so soon before this year's racing season opened at the Del Mar Racetrack.  And his niece, Reba Oberman, recalled many occasions when Astor would travel with his wife, Del, up to the Los Angeles area during the Santa Anita race season.  "Del and I would shop and we would wait for him to come home with his winnings and take us out to dinner," she said.

Brief eulogies also were delivered during graveside services by another niece, Sharon Lane, and by Astor's daughter, Katie Astor.  His wife, Del, was helped by Katie and their other child, David, as she placed a single red rose on Astor's coffin before it was lowered into the ground.

A social worker by training, Astor was encouraged by his nephew, M. Larry Lawrence, to come to San Diego from Minnesota, where he headed Capitol Community Services of St. Paul.  He relocated in 1961, the same year that Washington Univerity in St. Louis honored him with an outstanding alumnus award from its school of social work.

Astor became a strong advocate of cultural programming at the JCC, and under his tutelage,  the institution soon boasted an art gallery as well as its own communal orchestra, which since has become the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra conducted by David Amos.  Among the talented people hired by Astor was Mollie Harris, who developed the library named for Astor's parents, the Samuel and Rebecca Astor Judaica Library, which is now housed at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla.

Another of Astor's employees was Mike Cohen, who came on as an assistant athletic director.  Today Cohen is the executive director of the Lawrence Family JCC.

Born Sept. 12, 1912 in St. Louis, Missouri,  Astor was the eighth of his immigrant parents' nine children.  During the Depression, he went to work for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Minnesota, there organizing an off-hours recreation program that later won him a job at a settlement house.    During World War II, Astor set up programs not only for U.S. military but also for Italian prisoners-of-war, who were invited to participate in variety shows that sometimes sounded more like grand opera than Broadway musicals.

He and Ardel were married in 1942.  Towards the end of the war, Astors unit which was part of Gen. George Patton's Army went overseas, and Astor was witness to the condition of concentration camp inmates at Dachau and Buchenwald in Germany.

Following the war, he took advantage of the GI Bill to enroll at Washington University, eventually earning a Master of Social Work degree, followed soon after by the position in St. Paul, Minn.

After Astor retired in 1976 as the JCC's executive director, he remained active in the Jewish community, in liberal and Democratic party causes, and, of course, enjoyed attending the horse races. He and Del also enjoyed attending Jewish cultural events, including peformances earlier this year at the JCC's Streisand Festival of New Jewish Plays.

He remained an active part of the Jewish community through his final years, and was a well-known resident of Hebrew Homes-operated Seacrest Village in Poway. 

Besides his wife and children, survivors include a sister, Ethel Hack.  The family suggested donations in his memory be made to the Samuel and Rebecca Astor Judaica Library at the Lawrence Family JCC.  By Donald H. Harrison