Death silences toast of noted businessman while family mourns Clock stops in hallway as Hyman Breslin borne to grave “Trinken Lachayim” Jewish philanthropist years ago had vision of passing of wife’s mother From the Toronto Daily Star, January 2, 1934 With his life hanging by so slender a thread that death resulted an hour later,…
Category: Obit
Sad case of Louis Brown, 1915
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Real Estate Losses Led to Brown’s Suicide Queen St. Tailor Suffered Heavily in Slump FEARED FOR HIS FUTURE Had Made Up His Mind to Die — Intimated He Would Leave Money to All Denominations, Though He Was a Russian Jew From The Globe, March 8, 1915 Although he was the holder of many mortgages and…
Obit: Nathan Smith (d. 1936)
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From the Jewish Standard, January 1937 With the passing of Nathan Smith, Toronto was bereaved of one of the most interesting and one of the most remarkable Jews in its city. The late Nathan Smith was like an oak transplanted from the old Jewish forest of Eastern Europe, a sturdy young oak which has taken…
Obit: Rabbi Jacob Mendel Kirshenblatt (c1904 – 2002)
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Rabbi Jacob Mendel Kirshenblatt, a spiritual leader and longtime teacher who taught thousands of bar and bat mitzvah students, died in Toronto on March 6, 2002. He was 98. Rabbi Kirshenblatt was honoured in February by Beth Sholom Synagogue and Congregation Beth Haminyan at a tribute dinner attended by many of his former students. Leslie…
Obit: Edmund Scheuer (1847-1943)
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Father of Reform Judaism in Canada dies at 93 Well-known philanthropist, educationist passes after street-car collision Edmond Scheuer, 95, one of Toronto’s oldest and best known citizens, died Friday (July 2, 1943) in St. Michael’s hospital following a collision with a street car at MacPherson Avenue and Yonge Street. Mr. Scheuer retired from the jewelry…
Obit: Jerry Goodis. founding member of Travellers (2002)
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Jerry Goodis, one of Canada’s most famous advertising personalities and a founding member of The Travellers, perhaps Canada’s most well-known folk music group, died of cancer Nov. 8 (2002) in Chilliwack, B.C., at age 73. The son of a Toronto tailor who became a union organizer in the needle trade, Goodis was active in the…
Sherman was society president for 60 years
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William Sherman, who served as president of the Lipsker Young Mens Society for more than 60 years, died recently (2003) at age 91. He was the son of Samuel who came here from Lipsk, Poland in 1905, and in 1930 started Sherman Tailors on College Street. Samuel’s three sons, Teddy, the late Sollie and William,…
Memorial service to honour former Toronto rabbi (Winer)
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Yiddishist Rabbi Gershon Winer, who was raised in Toronto and worked at the Jewish Teachers Seminary in New York City prior to making aliyah in 1970, died in Jerusalem on Yom Kippur (2003). He was 81. Rabbi Winer, who was a frequent guest lecturer at Beth Tzedec Congregation and for years conducted High Holy Day…
The Ostrys: a legacy of accomplishment in public life
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Sylvia and Bernard Ostry are an exceptional Jewish couple, says book publishing consultant Malcolm Lester of Malcolm Lester and Associates. “They are one of a kind in terms of their joint accomplishments in Canadian public service,” adds Lester, who has been a consultant on their recently published books. Both of the Ostrys are respected around…
Obit: gallery curator Ken Saltmarche (1920-2003)
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Canada’s art world is lamenting the end of an era with the demise of Ken Saltmarche, founding director of the Art Gallery of Windsor, who died in Toronto on July 3, 2003, at the age of 82. An accomplished artist, Saltmarche ultimately made his greatest mark as an arts administrator and is being remembered as…
