It is with immense sadness and grief that I’m announcing the death of my brother Archie Honigman, who died of Covid on Thursday, September 23, 2021 at the age of 61.
I’m devastated, heart-broken and in shock. My wonderful, kind, caring, loving, smart and fun brother is gone. It’s hard to comprehend.
Archie’s death is a tragedy, just like my dad’s death was a tragedy and my dad’s parents and his sisters’ deaths were tragedies. They all died way too young.
What a life Arch lived though. Growing up, it was just our dad. Archie, and me. We were a team—-incredibly close. We all took care of each other. We travelled together to many fun places like Florida and Hawaii. Then there was our most special trip to Mizerich in Ukraine (formerly Poland) to see where our dad lived as a child and to attend a very emotional and meaningful memorial service to give tribute to the Jews, including our dad’s family, who were murdered during the Holocaust. After, we went to Israel and had fun. I remember Archie and my dad posing in funny pictures with mud on their bodies at The Dead Sea. I remember Archie and me kibbitzing in Yiddish with some religious guys with payes. They were shocked that we knew Yiddish. Archie liked to have fun with his family.
Archie and I took several trips, just the two of us… to Las Vegas, Dallas, California, Virginia Beach, New Orleans, Club Med in Mexico, and Miami Beach. We always rented bikes wherever we went. We both had a passion for cycling. Archie also loved to take a million pictures of our fun adventures. And then… there were the many Jewish singles cruises that we attended. Archie, being a very handsome guy—-tall , dark and handsome, with sparkly blue eyes—-was very popular with the women and it was funny to see all of them chase after my big brother. It was also fun how during the formal nights, he always wore a sweater with cartoon characters on it. Archie was Mr. Casual and very laid back.
Archie and I also travelled to Edmonton several times to visit and celebrate the simchas of our Aunt Penny and Uncle Percy and their kids—our cousins, Reesa, Jay and Robbie Lerner. We also enjoyed fun times with them in Winnipeg Beach and Toronto.
Archie, my dad, and I always loved Toronto and, as kids, we lived there three times. My dad thought we belonged in Toronto. When I moved to Toronto, Archie helped guide me every step of the way. He visited me every month and always brought me Gunn’s bagels and poppyseed rolls and rye bread from City Bread. He would also bring Jeannie’s cakes to celebrate our birthdays. He kept a bike in my condo and we often went on long bike rides downtown. We loved to cycle together. When my son Shafer was born, he flew to Toronto on the same day and stayed for several weeks. When Brody was born, he came a day later and helped look after Shafer. He was an amazing uncle. He adored my kids and they adored their Uncle Archie.
He loved to talk with my kids on the phone and in person. They all loved to hang out together. He used to tickle them when they were small and they giggled so much. He was the ultimate fun uncle. We travelled together to Disney World several times. It was our super fun place to go together and just have a great time. In Toronto, we also had fun going to farms, apple picking, beaches and amusement parks.
My brother often acted like a kid himself and did mischievous things like goofing around in his rental cars. He would place my kids on the roof of his car in my driveway and they would all be laughing while eating licorice, his favourite candy. He always had a stash in his car.
Archie would come to Toronto each month to play and have fun with my kids, my husband Arnie, and me. He came in for all my kids’ birthday parties and many of their school plays. He loved being an active part of their lives. Archie was very proud of his nephews, Shafer and Brody Honigman Deltoff. He had many pictures of them displayed all over his house and at our cottage. We have many wonderful memories of us hanging out with him at the beach, having fun playing at the arcade, going out for ice cream and goofing around the hot tub with all of Archie’s rubber duckies. He liked hanging out on the deck, schmoozing with the many people who visited us. He was a very social person and liked when people stopped by.
So many people liked Archie…so many people loved Archie. He was the true definition of a mensch and was so kind and generous with his time, advice and gifts. I have heard countless stories of how Archie gave of his time and energy to help them in so many ways. He was known to bring really, really nice gifts whenever he was invited somewhere.
Speaking of love, no one loved him like I loved him. We had an unbreakable bond—- a brother and sister relationship like no other. We were so close… incredibly close and everyone knew how close we were. He was such an amazing, wonderful brother.
Archie, I miss you so much. I will always remember you. I will cherish our special memories.
Rest in peace, my wonderful brother… You were the best brother ever.
Love,
Brenda
