Obits: Goodman, Graubart, Grosberg & Hausman mourned (1982)

Leo Hausman, studio photographer

Leo Hausman, a photographer who did much work for and within the Jewish community of Toronto, died in Toronto in January 1982 and his body was flown to Tel Aviv for burial, the Canadian Jewish News reported on January 28, 1982.

Hausman was born in Aachen, Germany and moved to Israel in 1934, the first member of his family to do so. In the early 1950s he visited Montreal to attend a wedding and remained in Canada. He moved to Toronto in 1956.

Hausman operated his own photography studio and covered many major events within the Jewish community, especially those related to Toronto State of Israel Bonds, Canadian Friends of Weizmann Institute and many landsmanshaft organizations.

The CJN described Fred Wolff as “a fellow bachelor and close friend of Hausman’s for the past 20 years.” He praised Hausman as a “fine, decent human being, who had many close friends.”

Hausman was survived by brothers Isi, Benno and Sigi and sister Yudit in Israel, as well as by nephews and nieces in Israel and the United States.

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Joseph Goodman, trucking industry exec

Joseph Goodman received the Order of Canada in 1978 for his service to the trucking and transportation industry in Canada, the Canadian Jewish News reported on January 28, 1982.

Goodman, former executive vice-president of the Ontario Trucking Association, joined the OTA in 1934 and became its general manager in 1943. He rose to the post of executive VP in 1972.

He retired from the OTA in 1978 but continued to be a consultant to the 2,000-member organization which is recognized as the voice of the Ontario’s trucking industry. He was the founding director of the Motor Truck Club of Toronto and a former director of the Ontario Motor League.

Goodman pressed government and business leaders to stagger downtown working hours to relieve road congestion on city streets and highways.

Goodman died in mid-January 1982 in Toronto at the age of 69. George M. Parke, a past president of the OTA, called him “a real giant” and said it would be impossible to fill the void left by his loss.

Goodman never married. He was grieved by a sister, Frances Kova, and brothers Phillip, Maurice and Nathan.

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Yahrzeit for Rabbi Yehuda Leib Graubart

Torath Emeth Congregation on Viewmount Avenue held a special service I 1982 to mark the 45th yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Graubart, former spiritual leader of the congregation and a founder of Eitz Chaim schools, the Canadian Jewish News reported on November 4, 1982.

Rabbi Mordechai Ochs referred to Graubart as “a rabbinic leader, a man of Halacha, a great authority, and a man of chesed.” Harry Korolnek and Moshe Weinstock, former students of Rabbi Graubart, organized the service and recounted some memorable anecdotes.

Other former students in attendance included Tzudik Weinberg and Nachman Shemen. Also present were Joseph Tanenbaum, president of Eitz Chaim Schools; Joseph Levine, a former president and chairman of Eitz Chaim’s education committee; Harry Cooper, son of school founder the late Joseph Cooper, and Meyer Cooperberg, a close disciple of the late Rabbi Graubart.

A large group went from the synagogue to say prayers at the rabbi’s grave, the newspaper reported.

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Charles Grosberg, Community Worker

Charles “Chuck” Grosberg began his long involvement with Toronto’s Jewish community before the Second World War, when he was president of the Herzl Zion Club, a prominent group of young Zionists numbering about 3,000, the Canadian Jewish News reported on February 11, 1982.

Grosberg, who died in January 1982 at the age of 63, was “an active volunteer and a gifted professional,” the newspaper reported.

“During World War II he served with the Royal Canadian Artillery as a lieutenant. He was posted to the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., where he studied photo interpretation and eventually ran a school in Western Canada teaching officers to read air photographs. Before the war ended he was promoted to captain.”

Grosberg re-established the Herzl Zion Club after the war and became involved at the Baycrest Centre, where he was a charter member of the Men’s Service Group and was its second president. He was active at Baycrest for more than 25 years.

In his professional life, he was a partner in the creative department of Maple Leaf Press, assisting in creating graphics for the Canadian Zionist Federation, Haifa University, Israel Bonds and the Zionist Organization of Canada.

Grosberg left behind Estelle, his wife of 38 years, and sons Steven and Raymond. ♦