With sadness we announce the passing of David Pollock on August 12, 2019, at the age of 103.
David was born in Winnipeg on February 2, 1916, the son of Vitcha (Kesselman) and Kalman Pollock who arrived in Winnipeg from Kiev in 1913. He had four siblings, Tanny, Morris, Sam (Buddy) and Rose. In 1941 he married Sylvia Rayman, his wife of 52 years, with whom he had three children, Melanie, Scarlet and Daryl.
David attended Lord Selkirk, Aberdeen and St John’s High School where he was an accomplished athlete. He obtained his electrician’s license in 1936 and during the Second World War worked installing generators at the Welland Canal. After returning to Winnipeg, he became a well-known restauranteur, beginning with the Rickshaw Restaurant. Subsequently, he established the Holiday Restaurant in the Dayton Building on Portage Avenue, and then the famous Beefeater Restaurant at Osborne Square which ran from the late 1960’s to the 1990’s. David was also the founder of the Golden Door Geriatric Centre on Pembina Highway which increasingly became his major interest. After more than five decades, it still operates today as one of Winnipeg’s finest long-term care facilities.
After Sylvia’s death in 1993 David married Ruth Kaplan of Palm Springs, California, where they resided for half the year. There, in 2016, he celebrated his 100th birthday at a large party where his remarkable vibrancy was evident in his speech on that occasion and his turns on the dance floor.
In addition to Ruth, David leaves to mourn his daughters Melanie Panitch and Scarlet Pollock, and son, Daryl Pollock, his son-in-law Leo Panitch and daughter-in-law Wendy (Wyatt) Pollock. He also leaves his grandchildren Maxim and Vida, Simcha and Pendle, Zachary, Joshua Wyatt and Isabella, his great-grandchildren Ellen and Dean, and many nieces and nephews as well as Ruth’s own family.
The family wants especially to thank Sonia Baladad, Kelly Barnert-Loewen and Mira Djokic for their loving care and respect, making it possible for David to see out his life at his home in Winnipeg.
Funeral services were held at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue on Thursday, August 15. Donations in David Pollock’s honour can be made to the Friends of Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
