From Beth Sholom Bulletin, Summer 2014 Barnet Markson, who died in March 2014 just three weeks shy of his 100th birthday, was a founding member of Beth Sholom Congregation. Born in Toronto in 1914, Barney became a pharmacist and built a store, Markson’s Pharmacy, at the corner of Westover Hill Road and Eglinton in 1945,…
Category: Obit
Judy Holliday, top actress of 1950, had IQ of 172; career all comedy, later private life all tragedy (1965)
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JUDY HOLLIDAY OBIT, 1965 From the Canadian Jewish Review, June 18, 1965 Judy Holliday, an actress whose professional career was all comedy and whose later private life was all tragedy, introduced the word “couth” to the English language. The etymological creation was part of her portrayal of one of the most memorable of a noted…
Obit: William Tutte, mathematician and codebreaker (1917-2002)
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William Tutte, the mathematician who deciphered the complex codes by which the Nazi high command encrypted their military communications during World War II, has died in Waterloo, Ontario at the age of 84. Although the accomplishment has been called “the greatest intellectual feat of the war,” and was described as such on the citation for…
Obit: Elazar (Louis) Rotenberg, ran steamship agency (d.1936)
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From the Jewish Standard, January 1937 The most remarkable thing about the late Mr. Elazar (Louis) Rotenberg, who died on Thursday, December 31, 1936, was the note of aristocratic bearing which characterized all his life and helped to create the tone of quiet refinement for which his household is noted. Throughout his fairly long life…
Obit: Jack Burghardt, broadcaster, politician, lay preacher (1929-2002)
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From the Globe and Mail, October 10, 2002 ◊ Jack Burghardt, broadcaster, politician, lay preacher. Born Port Colborne, Ont., on Sept. 19, 1929; died London, Ont. on Sept. 28, 2002. Jack Burghardt, a well-known television personality and lay preacher who became a member of Parliament for London West and then deputy mayor of London, has died…
Obit: Harry Barberian, restaurateur (c1930-2001)
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From the Globe and Mail, 2001 Harry Barberian, who began his culinary career as a short order cook in a circus railroad dining car, and went on to found the landmark Toronto steakhouse that bears his name, has died after complications from abdominal surgery. He was 71. His restaurant, Barberian’s, specialized in steaks — New…
TORONTO SAGES: Prominent rabbis of blessed memory
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TORONTO SAGES is a booklet compiled and published in 2004 by Mayer S. Abramowitz, a grandson of Toronto cantor Nosson Stolnitz. Its full title is “Chachmei Yisrael of Toronto — Toronto’s Sages.” The booklet presents information about 35 Toronto rabbis from their tombstones, translated into English; some Yiddish and English obituaries are also included. The contents…
Sarah Salsberg dead at 94 (1977)
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From the Canadian Jewish News, April 1, 1977 Sarah Gitel Salsberg, long a colourful, vivacious figure in the Toronto Jewish community, died this past weekend after a brief illness. She was 94 years of age. Born in Lagow, Poland, Salsberg came to Canada 64 years ago, about 1903. The mother of CJN columnist J. B.,…
Obit: Dr. Daniel Hill (1923-2003)
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From the Globe and Mail, 2003 As a great-grandson of American slaves, Dr. Daniel Hill carried the lessons of universal equality and civil rights in his blood. Founding director of the Ontario Human Rights Commission and a former Ontario ombudsman, Dr. Hill is being remembered as a pioneer of the human rights movement in Canada…
OBIT: Joseph Wolfe Gordon (1937)
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An Actor Struts and Frets Across the Yiddish Stage No More By S. H. Abramson From the Canadian Jewish Standard, January 1937 The recent passing of my old friend Joe Gordon at the Mount Sinai Sanitarium, after an illness of six years, brings to mind a host of memories. During my last visit to Joe…
