Myron “Mike” Adler, the founder of Top 40 distributor Myron Corp. (asi/278980), died Tuesday morning at the age of 91. Adler and his wife Elaine launched the Maywood, NJ, distributor in 1949 – the year they married. Since the founding of the mail-order business, Myron Corp. has grown into a global $75 million company that remains family-owned and operated.

A prominent philanthropist and donor, Adler launched the Adler Aphasia Center in 2003 to help people who suffer from aphasia, a language disorder caused by brain damage that affects the ability to speak and understand language as well as read and write. Adler suffered from the disorder as a result of a stroke, but improved and regained his ability to talk – an experience that drove him to launch the center and help other sufferers. Adler and his wife were also long-time supporters of Ramapo College (the couple made a recent $2 million donation to the school’s nursing program) and this year received the Outstanding Philanthropists Award from the New Jersey chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Adler is survived by his wife as well as their children Bill, Ricky, Jim (Myron Corp.’s CEO) and Marie and their 11 grandchildren. Services were held yesterday in Paramus, NJ. Memorial contributions can be made to the Adler Aphasia Center, 60 West Hunter Ave., Maywood, NJ 07607.