Zora Weidman

ZORA WEIDMAN

ZORA WEIDMAN We announce with great sadness the death of our dear mother and grandmother on November 10, 2000, age 92. Although her recent years were clouded by intractable illness, she still maintained a beauty, graciousness and dignity that impressed all who saw her. In the years before Alzheimer Disease took its toll, Zora was a vibrant, lively woman, fiercely independent and deeply devoted to her parents and her own family. In the many decades of her widowhood she focused her loving energies on her children and grandchildren. Her great-grandchildren she was, alas, never able to know in the conventional sense. It would be impossible to describe the legacy of Zora without mentioning that she adored music and drama, literature and language, and almost every aesthetic endeavour. She was a skilful actress and gifted raconteur, a wonderful singer, a talented pictorial artist, writer and translator. She evoked some of these talents in her own offspring, and contributed many of them to the community as a whole, both Jewish and general. An active participant in the Jewish Womens Musical Club, Zora also directed and acted in many productions at the Playhouse and for the Little Theatre, precursor to the MTC. Born in Winnipeg in 1908, Zora was the only child of Bronya and Joseph Zagrabelna. She attended William Whyte School, graduated from St. Johns Tech in 1925, and attended the University of Manitoba, where she starred in the Menorah Societys production of "Disraeli". Her many roles in Jewish and Yiddish theatre in Winnipeg have been celebrated in recent books. In 1929, Zora married Sydney H. Weidman (Buddy), who died in 1961. Zora Weidman is survived and mourned by her adoring children, Dr. Martin L. Weidman (Rosalie Goldstein) and Susan Weidman Schneider (Dr. Bruce Schneider). She will be missed profoundly by them and by her devoted grandchildren Sydney (Maureen), Joshua (Amanda) and Judith Weidman, and Benjamin, Rachel and Yael Schneider, as well as by grandchildren Samara, Zoe and Maia and by her large extended family. Shiva will be observed through Thursday evening at 307 Park Blvd. The family requests that any memorial contributions be made to the Sharon Home, where Zora was so very well cared for in her final years. As published in the Winnipeg Free Press on November 15, 2000