I was born in Winnipeg on March 5, 1944, to Jean and Eugene Weisz.  My mother, nee Jean Cecile Kroft, was born in Vitebsk, Russia, on November 16, 1912, and my father, Eugene, was born in Vasarasznameny, Hungary, on January 31, 1904.   My mother was an infant when her parents made the journey, and my father was about 30 years old when he bid goodbye to his family to come to Canada.  My father left Hungary, knowing he would never see his parents again, because even in 1930, Jews there were treated poorly.  In fact, his parents, Izchak and Miriam Weisz, and their two young sons were murdered in Mauthausen.  My mother’s parents were Benjamin and Sarah Kroft.  My mother’s family left Russia because… well, just watch “Fiddler on the Roof.”

I am adding my page to this volume to herald the courage of my predecessors for schlepping across that huge Atlantic Ocean.  

My parents met in Winnipeg, fell in love, and were married on February 1st, 1934.  

My Dad had learned his trade in auto mechanics in Hungary, repairing farm machinery, so upon arriving in Winnipeg, he found work at an auto shop on Pritchard Avenue in Winnipeg's storied "north end." My mother, who graduated from high school at St. John's Tech, was trained as a stenographer, but given the ethics of the time, my Dad did not want her to work. Nor did she ever drive an automobile.

Eventually, my Dad purchased property on Portage Avenue and opened Portage Auto Parts, where he worked hard from sunup to sundown six days a week and made a living for his family. By the time my Dad came home, it was late in the evening, and my mom would already have served and eaten dinner with us kids.  He ate with only my mom sitting at the table with him.

My Dad took only Sundays off - and Christmas Day.  On Sundays in summertime, we would often load into his car and drive to Winnipeg Beach, where his sister had a cottage.  It was a real treat!

I have two older brothers: Ken (8 years my senior) and Gary (4 years my senior).  We grew up in a comfortable, small home, yet each of us had our own room.  In my early years, I attended Brock Corydon Elementary, River Heights Junior High, and Kelvin High School. My mom and dad raised three kids, all of whom graduated from university as professionals. Ken worked as a mechanical engineer, but ultimately found his life's career teaching Physics.  Gary graduated from Commerce and ultimately found his preferred career as a Clinical Psychologist. I graduated with a degree in Interior Design.  

My parents gave up a lot of the fancy things in life in order to give us kids a good chance.  They were fiercely Jewish and belonged to several Jewish organizations, including the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, where I attended Hebrew School, Brownies, Girl Guides, enjoyed Junior Youth Organization, United Synagogue Youth and had my Bat Mitzvah, convocated from Hebrew School.   I remember lots of dances at the YMHA, where we belonged to clubs and swam.   I was active in the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and served in different executive positions. That's where I first learned all about Roberts’ Rules of Order.   I cannot overstate the positive effect of B’nai B’rith Camp in my life.  I still have friends today that I met there when I first started at nine years of age.   I continued at camp, becoming a counsellor for several years, finally stopping when I got married!

Jack and I have continued to be members of the Shaarey Zedek, where I sang in the choir under Jack Garland for ten years. To this day, I am grateful that we have the Asper Campus and the Rady. I am there at least five days a week.  After aquafit classes, we often hang out in the sauna and talk and talk and talk.  We have formed a lovely friendship group- Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist - but nonetheless a chevrah. It is a safe place for us all.

I practiced as a Professional Interior Designer for approximately 50 years and taught Design at the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Architecture, for 22 years. I loved teaching, particularly giving design critiques to the students. When I sat down beside them in the lab to look at their work, they often shared personal stuff before showing me how their work was progressing.  I felt privileged to hear them and learn from them.

Along with my design practice, I owned and ran a window business for 22 years.  Because I thought it would help my design clients, I took time off in the middle to do a 3-year degree at Menno Simons College at the University of Winnipeg in Conflict Resolution (for which I received the Gold Medal.  I then went on to practice as a Mediator for 10 years…. ultimately returning to my design practice.

It was at the University of Manitoba where I met my dearest husband and best friend, Jack, coming out of a restaurant where many of the Jewish students ate lunch, so many that we called it “Little I” for Little Israel.  I approached him because I had heard about him, and he immediately walked me back to the Architecture Building.  After dating for about three years, Jack and I were married on August 23rd, 1964.  I believe our relationship has thrived because of our totally different backgrounds and skills.  Through the years, I have learned a little bit about the Law, and Jack has learned much about Design.

Jack and I have two wonderful daughters: Lara and Rebecca. They both graduated from University and have degrees and honours:  Lara in Religious Studies, Becca in Law, and then Culinary Arts. Rebecca has a joyful marriage with Michael Guralnick, and they have given us two grandsons:  Miles and Gabriel.  Lara is happily married to Hart Poskar.   Lara gave us our granddaughter, Michaela, and our grandson, Jaron, whose father is Les Rykiss, from a previous marriage.  We are proud of all of our kids and grandkids, and we love them dearly.  (May they be healthy and have peaceful lives).

Jack and I took a sabbatical year and travelled to Aix-en-Provence to study French.  Lara (8) and Becca (6) had already learned French starting in Kindergarten at Ecole Sacre Coeur.   We camped all over Europe in our Volkswagen Camper Van for three months and then we all settled down in a small village outside of Aix, before classes started for all of us- at the Puy Ricard village school for our daughters, and for Jack and me- at l’University d’Aix Trois (for which I received the Gold Medal.)  What a joyful and fascinating year!  

Jack and I love to travel, and we have visited all seven continents many times. We also travel frequently with our children, and when our grandchildren reached Bar/Bat Mitzvah, we took them all to their chosen European countries. We have cruised more times than I can count, and of course, the best cruises were with our children and grandchildren. What a joy!

One year, Jack was invited to participate and speak at a conference in Cape Town, South Africa.  We decided to travel first to Rwanda to visit the mountain gorillas.   After trekking up the mountain we did finally find and sit with Diane Fossey’s group.  After coming down the mountain, and in our beds for the night, the Rwandan war started right outside our cabin!   It was terrifying and we thought we would never see our daughters again.  Bullets and rockets flying non-stop.  However, after a few days, and our waving a white flag, the Army in power led us to a location that seemed semi-safe.  This whole experience took a week, and we are lucky to have survived that terrible event except for some lingering PTSD.

During our life together, Jack and I have been fortunate to live in wonderful homes, either extensively renovated or newly built from scratch. I loved designing for my own family. The first time we lived away from Winnipeg was in Ottawa, when Jack worked for the Department of Justice and I worked for the National Design Branch of the Department of Industry. When we lived in France, we rented a very large farmhouse that was charming and comfortable beyond words. When we lived in Boston - quite another story — we lived above a hairdressing salon. It was there that I loved sitting on the floor with my two sweet daughters, watching Sesame Street. However, while Jack was away in classes at Harvard Law, I joined a group of “Harvard Law Wives,” and we each took all the children for one morning a week, so that four mornings a week we could sightsee, shop, or do whatever we pleased. We had a wonderful cottage in Falcon Lake for 25 years, where, along with loving togetherness, all our grandkids learned to waterski and drive the motorboat.  

Since retiring I have taken up oil painting, which I do as I write this.  I study with a remarkable teacher when we are down south in Florida.  The learning never stops.

When I look back at my life thus far, I shout out that I am truly blessed. I love passionately my dear husband Jack, who has provided for our family everything we could ever need. It’s my gift to be able to be so fiercely proud of my husband- and the wonderful work he has done throughout his career in his long and varied life in Law. He has been a role model for our entire family, and I respect him totally and love him completely.

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