| Obituary |
LAZAR, Helen Peacefully, in her ninetieth year, on Monday, June 17, 2013. Devoted daughter of the late, ever-affable Morris and the late, straight-talking Fanny (nee Moscovitch). Helen is survived by cousins Naomi Paget of Lighthouse Point, Florida, Barbara Stern and Martin Eidinger of Montreal. She was pre-deceased by six months by cousin Dr. Stanley Eidinger of Toronto. Keenly intelligent, curious and disciplined, Helen graduated from McGill University in 1943 with a Bachelor of Arts. Following an exemplary and satisfying thirty-year career at Domtar, she enjoyed a contemplative life, reading widely and delighting in frequent excursions to the movies with her close friend, Elizabeth Merson Ostro. In her later years, Helen was supported and sustained by the abiding loyalty and comradeship of Zilda Frade. Genuine and compassionate, a gracious listener with a gentle sense of humour, Helen was nonetheless quick to repudiate suggestions that she had led a blameless life. During the Second World War, she recalled, she and a friend headed out to the Outremont Theatre to catch the latest film; her younger cousin, Martin, trailed along. Helen and her companion possessed the obligatory registration cards proving that they were sixteen; Martin was only twelve. A passionate cinephile, Helen was compelled to select the movie over Martin, who lingered outside the theatre, weeping, for two hours. Martin milked the story of this traumatic childhood episode for decades. Nodding, Helen would acknowledge: "It was my only sin." Funeral service from Paperman & Sons, 3888 Jean-Talon St. W., on Wednesday, June 19 at 10:00 a.m. Burial at the Independent Hebrew Cemetery, de la Savane. |
