Showing 211 results

Authority record

Groberman, Marjorie

  • Person
  • September 24, 1919 - October 30, 2011

Marjorie was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1919 to her parents Harry and Betty (Babe) Frome. She moved with her parents and brother Alan, to Vancouver in 1937. In 1941 she married Cecil Groberman, son of Morris and Hilda Groberman. They had 2 children, Jeffrey, born in 1945 and Hildy, born in 1949. Jeffrey has 2 children: Aviva Mandelman, BA and Elan Groberman, an electric engineer. Hildy Barnett has 2 children: Joel, BA and Mira.

Marjorie became very active in Hadassah- Wizo and in 1952, originating and chairing the first bazaar and exposition open to the general public at the Seaforth Armoury. For the next 10 years she traveled across Canada teaching 12 other cities how to set up their own bazaar and exposition.

In 1964 Marjorie was invited to Israel to set up the first ever bazaar and exposition at the World Wizo conference in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

She rose to become president of Vancouver Hadassah Wizo, then National vice president and eventually a member for 4 years of the World Wizo executive in Israel.

One of the highlights of her community work was organizing the national convention of Hadassah Wizo in Vancouver in January 10-14, 1997.

In addition to Hadassah Wizo, Marjorie opened the first Vancouver office of the Israel bonds and co-chaired its first bond drive. She was also chair person of the women’s division of Combined Jewish Appeal and served as a board member of Jewish Federation for many years (both her mother and daughter served as chairs of the Combined Jewish Appeal). Her latest community work has been with the seniors department of the Vancouver Jewish Community Centre, serving on their board of directors. Marjorie and her father, Harry Frome, were honoured at a Negev Dinner in 1966. On April 28, 2010 Marjorie received from the government of British Columbia a community achievement award. Marjorie passed away October 30, 2011.

Leonoff, Cyril E.

  • Person
  • February 22, 1925 - April 7, 2016

Cyril Edel Leonoff was a founding director of the Jewish Historical Society of BC and serves on the board as Society historian, researching such topics as the Jewish community of BC and Jewish farm communities of western Canada, and publishing the results of this research.

Cyril Edel Leonoff was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1925. He is the grandson of Edel Brotman, a homesteader and rabbi of the Wapella, Saskatchewan farm colony, 1889-1906. Cyril has been a resident of three West Coast cities, New Westminster, Seattle and Vancouver.

A civil engineer by profession, Leonoff is also a graduate of the Public History Program at SFU. He has authored and edited a number of books and papers on engineering and historical topics.

In 1970-1974, Leonoff was the founding president of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia. For his work, 'The Jewish Farmers of Western Canada', in 1985 he was awarded the Margaret McWilliams Medal of the Manitoba Historical Society. In 2007, he recieved the Distinguished Service Award of the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies. He is currently the Historian Emeritus of the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia.

In May 1949 Cyril married Faye (nee Matlin) (December 30, 1927 - October 29, 2011) and they had three children: Blair (Betsy), daughters Anita (grandchildren Alysa and Cole) and Rosanne.

Keenlyside, John

  • Person

John S. Keenlyside was born and raised in Vancouver and attended UBC and graduated with a degree in economics and political science. In 1973 he founded the investment-counseling firm John S. Keenlyside & Co. which he manages with his two sons.

Keenlyside has been collecting 19th century historical papers and stamps for over thirty-five years with his primary collecting interest being the history of British Columbia with an emphasis on the colonial period (pre-1871). He has also collected documents relating to the fur trade and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Keenlyside collects manuscripts, documents, maps, books and ephemera relating to B.C.

Schiffer, Fred

  • Person
  • April 1, 1917-November 6, 1999

Fred Siegfried Schiffer was born in Vienna, Austria, April 1, 1917, the son of Arthur Schiffer and Theresa Grohslicht , and the older brother of Kathe and Lizzie, all of whom perished in the Holocaust. A Law student at the University of Vienna until 1938, he reached England as a refugee shortly before war broke out. In England he met his wife Olive, whom he married in 1942, and began his distinguished career as a photographer.

Olive and Fred had two children, Jennifer and Roger. In 1948 he set off with his wife and two small children to Buenos Aires, Argentina. There he became a respected artistic and commercial photographer. A nude photograph of Frances Taylor submitted to an American magazine contest won Schiffer a trip to North America, where he embraced the ambiance of Vancouver. In 1958, when political unrest in Argentina became unbearable, the Schiffer family moved to Vancouver.

Schiffer opened his studio on Seymour Street where he quickly became Vancouver’s top portrait photographer. He won numerous awards for his photos. A famous 1967 shot of journalist Jack Webster taking a drag on a smoke was selected for the International Exposition of Photography in Portland, Oregon. Two years earlier, all six of the photos he submitted to Britain's Royal Photographic Society were selected for its annual exhibition. In 1971, he was hired as the photographer for the marriage of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to Margaret Sinclair.

Fred Schiffer was a member of the Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, Master Photographer, Life Member of Cameracraftsmen of America, and recipient of many honours. Self-taught, he believed in formal training for photographers, and was instrumental in setting up the first diploma program in Western Canada at Langara College. He had an impeccable eye and a gift for revealing portraiture. A meticulous, intelligent and quick-witted lover of words. Latin scholar. Irresistible jokester. Committed Rotarian and unlikely but free-wheeling RV'er. A kind and deeply honourable man. In 1994 he suffered the loss of his son Roger, age 50.

Fred Schiffer passed away November 6, 1999 at the age of 82 years. His wife Olive passed away June 4, 2004 in Toronto.

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