Cecile will lovingly be remembered by her children, David (Irene), Arlene (Len), grandchildren Elana (Jon), Jesse, Ryan and Brett , her sister Bernice Burko and her sister-in-law, Cookie Rutman as well as nieces & nephews. Her great grand-daughter Kaia was the joy of her life.
She was predeceased by her mother and father, Esther and Sam Rutman, husband Sam and her brother Al Rutman; Her brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Harry and Babe Meyers; Ida & Harvey Smordin and her brother-in-law, Chilo Burko.
Cecile was born on December 20, 1924. She entered Strathcona School at the age of five for grades one to six. She then transferred to William Whyte School for grade seven and Machray School for grades eight and nine. She went to St. John’s High School for ten and eleven and finally one year at Dominion Business College. During her teens, she was a member of Betar and the Hadassah Juniorettes. She also attended the Winnipeg School of Art. While studying at Dominion Business College, she entered a Canada-wide Underwood Artistic Typewriting contest and won 4th Prize. During her mid-life years, she was active in ORT and became a life member. She met her husband, Sam, in 1946 and they were married on October 19, 1947. She worked in the office of Gunn Garment until 1951 and then joined Investors Syndicate in 1963. She retired from there after 20 years of employment in 1983 from Investors. Cecile and Sam were members of the American Contract Bridge League and shared the excitement of Bridge competitions at the Tuxedo Bridge Studio as well as tournaments in both Canada and the U.S. They were both Silver Life Masters. They enjoyed vacationing in Hawaii, Mexico, Las Vegas and Israel. They wintered in Florida for 20 years and enjoyed many Caribbean bridge-playing cruises.
Her funeral service and burial took place on July 20, 2017. The funeral service was officiated by Rabbi Anibal Mass. We greatly appreciated his kindness and sympathies. We enjoyed and appreciated the kind words and beautiful memories, expressed by Cecile’s nephew, Lyle Smordin as well as the memories expressed by Irene Boxer-Meyrowitz, Jesse Boxer-Meyrowitz, Elana Waldman and Brett Gladstone.
We would also like to thank Estelle Raber for helping us organize the funeral.
We are grateful to the pallbearers, including Avi Waldman, Matthew Duboff, Brett Gladstone, Jesse Boxer-Meyrowitz, Jon Waldman and Peter Mendelson.
The family would like to thank the staff of Blossoms Senior Care, the staff of Seven Oaks Hospital Emergency and the ward staff on the 5th floor and 3rd floor for their wonderful care and consideration over the years. We would like to extend our gratitude to Dr. Nolan Finlayson and Dr. M.B. MacMillan.
We are also grateful for the love and support extended by Cecile’s sister, Bernice as well as Bernice’s children.
We would like to thank Nate Dana, our honorary pallbearer, for his consideration and assistance to our family over the years.
Donations to the memory of our loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Cecile, could be directed to the Jewish National Fund of Canada, ORT Toronto, Alzheimer Society of Manitoba or the Friends of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights.