Obituaries
DR. BARRY CAPLAN
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Barry Caplan on June 2, 2017, at the age of 84, after a short, but courageous, battle with cancer.
Barry is survived by his loving wife, Sandra; children, Susan Billinkoff (Errol), Bruce Caplan (Sheri Winters) and David Caplan (Cindy Switzer); and grandchildren, Jordan and Asher Billinkoff, Maia and Annie Caplan, and Max and Layla Switzer-Caplan. He is also survived by his sisters, Sandra Ciarrocchi (Ray) and Gail Bender (Earl); sisters-in-law, Marcia Glazerman and Philipa Caplan, cousin and dear friend, Aubrey Caplan; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his parents Max and Annette (Stall) Caplan; in-laws, Bertha and Allan Glazerman; and brother-in-law, Fred Glazerman.
Barry was a “gentleman”, a “gentle man”, and a “mensch”. He grew up on McAdam Avenue and attended school at Machray, Luxton and St. John’s High. Barry’s natural artistic talent emerged at an early age and one of his favourite pastimes was creating his own comic strip characters, all precisely rendered with pen and ink. He also wrote accompanying stories, producing incredible works of animated fiction. Barry credited his parents with instilling and nurturing in him a lifelong love of literature, history, art, poetry, and music.
Notwithstanding his passion for the arts and humanities, Barry’s formal education took him down another path, medicine. He graduated from the University of Manitoba’s Medical School in 1957, interned and completed a one year fellowship in pathology at the Winnipeg General Hospital (now Health Sciences Centre), and then moved to California where he completed a residency in urology at U.C.L.A. in 1963. After moving back to Winnipeg, Barry began his medical practice in the Boyd Building and later opened a new office in the Medical Arts together with fellow urologist, Dr. Alan Decter. He and Alan shared a long and happy professional association and friendship. Barry was known as a kind, caring, and compassionate doctor. He was devoted to his patients and always went the extra mile, ensuring that those in his charge received the best care possible. In addition to his practice, Barry served as a urological consultant to the St. Boniface Clinic and taught at the University of Manitoba’s Medical Faculty for over 30 years.
On June 21, 1959 Barry married his soul mate, Sandra Glazerman. Sandra knew that Barry was the love of her life and he was equally smitten, declaring at their wedding that their profound love would endure “beyond the limits of time with the brightness and freshness with which it blossomed on that day”.
Family was important to Barry and he shared special relationships with each of his children. Some of his happiest memories were of time spent on family vacations. He enthusiastically welcomed new members into the Caplan family, including his children’s spouses and their families, and, eventually, six grandchildren, each of whom he adored.
During their married life Sandra and Barry enjoyed Winnipeg’s rich cultural offerings, including the opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre. They also travelled extensively, savouring each experience, and always coming home ready to plan their next adventure.
After retiring at 68, Barry went back to university, enrolling in as many sessions as his schedule – and Sandra – would permit. He studied a wide variety of subjects and worked long hours on papers and art projects. He loved hearing his professors’ views on politics and currents events, and they all respected his sage opinions and views of the world. He continued to pursue his fine arts studies at their winter home in St. Petersburg, Florida, where they enjoyed the company of a new circle of friends, the warm weather, and the vibrant arts and cultural scene.
Barry was deeply touched by the many family and friends who came to his 80th birthday celebration. In his speech he thanked Sandra for her unconditional love and super human efforts on his behalf during the vicissitudes of their, then, 53 years together. In the end, it was Sandra’s devotion to Barry that allowed him to live comfortably at home until the last week of his life. Her dedication to his well-being at all times and, in particular, when his health declined rapidly and gravely, was a testament to her great love for him.
Heartfelt thanks to Rabbi Alan Green for providing support and comfort to Barry in his final days, to Dr. George Balko for his expertise and compassion, and to Dr. Bob Steinberg for his kindness and friendship.
Funeral services, officiated by Rabbi Green and Cantor Mass, were held at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue on June 5, 2017. Pallbearers were Errol, Jordan, and Asher Billinkoff; Daniel and Alyn Glazerman; and Randy Bender. Honorary pallbearers were Dick Bell, Earl Bender, Lou Billinkoff, Aubrey Caplan, Bob Weinerman and Edward Winters.
Barry’s passing leaves a void in the essence of the Earth. We will miss him dearly and will strive to live by his example. He will be forever in our hearts.
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince;
And flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest!
(Shakespeare, Hamlet)
If desired, donations may be made to a charity of one’s choice.
Obituaries
MORLEY JACOBS APRIL 16, 1941 – JUNE 26, 2025
With deep reluctance to post his passing, our adored Moishe who fought to stay as long as possible, left us, in the early hours of June 26th; while his presence resides in memories, the activities he pursued in the purposeful life he lived, remain.
He never lost the use of his affable charming smile under his blue eyed gaze; an intent listener, even in his last days, who made you feel seen and heard. To be known by Morley was a privilege; to have been his friend often felt like walking with a prince of angels, when he spoke less and listened more.
Dr. J as his students over the years would tell you, he was the kind of mentor you could trust. His passion for excellence in education was intense and generous, inspiring his students with their own potential to realize a career.
A PhD in Biochemistry, Morley lectured in classes and labs at RRCC, where he connected one by one, year after year with a multitude of young people. Reaching beyond this, Morley successfully petitioned the provincial government and won the retention of the Biochemistry Department at RRCC, following which he expanded the opportunities for students on practicum in this field, through a Jobs co-operative program. In the Biology/Chemistry Departments at U of W, as the Co-op Coordinator, Morley developed the program within the province and beyond for graduate students in applied Sciences Degrees.
In subsequent years, he connected graduates of the RRCC course, who wished to continue in Biochemistry in a reciprocal agreement to earn and achieve a Bachelor Degree in Biochemistry at University.
For 13 consecutive years, between1989 to 2002, Morley served as an elected School Trustee in the Seven Oak School system. He was an educational activist working on multiple committees, knew the principals and teaching staff at each school, always searching for increasing student successand a long time proponent for Year-round Education.
Through those years, Morley attended dozens of schools, personally documenting results of their YRE programs.
Selected to serve as the chairperson on a variety of boards, including the Seven Oaks School Board, he took on each role with dedicated time, organizing, improving, and encouraging an elevated standard of public service. His days were filled well into the evenings, with volunteer work and on weekends when he decided to partner with like minded friends, he brought computer tutors and kids together with an early learning education opportunity.
Along with all of that work, Morley found time to run the Boston Marathon to raise funds for the I.L. Peretz School in 1978 was a long time member of the CIC and served as Mid-Canada AOAC President. A lifetime believer in blood donations, Morley was honored as a distinguished citizen with humanitarian recognition, for the number of donations he gave over the years. On retirement, he researched and developed a Greenhouse Nutrition project to improve food sourcing for Northern communities and in that same period, spent 8 years writing a book, he hoped would be a legacy for people to understand the biochemistry of nutrition, “The Guide: To Understanding Nutrition and the Body’s Response to Food”, which he published in 2018.
He was still busy enjoying his first years in his eighth decade, planning future trips, and long walks with whomever wanted to come along, staying fit and eating well on his early morning rise, when he would be proactively planning the day; he loved life.
He believed each day was the privilege to make choices that made a positive difference to the people you loved and the work that you did. Through all of those decades, the longest number of them, he spent as a playful guy with our adored kids and grandkids. In hundreds of family photographs, he was the playmate in any game, goofy in every dress up, airplane ride giver, stellar hide and seek player, breakfast every morning maker, unabashed Karaoke singer, and the guy you wanted when you needed someone to make things right.
Born in Portage la Prairie, the third child of Abraham and Rebecca Jacobs, in 1950, Morley
moved with his family to Winnipeg, his older siblings, brother Joe (OBM), sister Toba Isler (resides in Florida), settled in at 529 Rupertsland, where he made many lasting friendships over his lifetime. Raised with strong Jewish beliefs in an observant and caring family home, he studied at Talmud Torah, excelled at school, and acquired the foundations for community, family, honorability in character, and the value of knowledge.
Morley considered it fate that we met on his 18th birthday at a Rec-room party in 1956. Nine years later, we married at the Shaarey Zedek, on May 2nd, 1965.
Husband who treasured the miracle of us, who supported the fulfillment our mutual dreams, he was my person who stepped up in all of our critical hours, my trained Lamaze partner for the birth of our children; we were two young people, who raised each other higher as we grew older together. When we met it was instantaneous friendship and when we married, it was a bond of mutual adoration, with all of those glorious years together, sixty nine of them, whatever happened, our togetherness was a state of being that nurtured us all.
Beloved by his nieces, Pam Weinroth (Robert), Rhonda Kupfer (Sam), and nephews, Scott Jacobs (Heidi) and Mark Jacobs, for whom he was an active uncle, visiting whenever he could as they grew up and married, happily around long enough to play with their children.
Mahjong sit-in player for any game, Morley was a cribbage master, who did a daily Sudoku-chess and a cipher quiptoquote, while at the same time; he was a researcher par excellence who was able to make the most complex biochemistry understandable. Strong and agile, he was an athlete from youth, a track star and marathon runner, in high school a basketball player while through his life a huge fan of baseball and hockey, he was noted in his early teens as an avid ping pong player.
For all the years people knew him he was humble with his own notable achievements academically, but remained generous with intellectual sharing, correcting only with honorable concerns. It was his ease in praising and engaging in progressions that valued excellence, through all of his years, daily, Morley was the legacy of his smiles of confidence for others. Morley was a guy who frequented the pleasure of being forever joyous with children, and as every family pet could avow, he was the doted upon favorite.
His time here blessed everyone and everything, and we know he would hope to inspire that in others.
Etched into our collective family sharing of him, we are his memory keepers held to our own souls with enduring honor for how he conducted himself in his life, evermore: Children, Stephanie Jacobs-Lockhart and Morrison Jacobs; our son-in-law, Darwin Lockhart and daughter-in-law, Jennifer (Lisakowski) Jacobs; and our grandchildren, Jonah Samuel Lockhart, Elle Talia Lockhart, Adli Jayden Jacobs, Mazie Carolyn Jacobs, and me, Bev (Berkal) Jacobs, the woman who had the privilege of him for all of those years, nothing to mourn and everything to remember with joy.
Services were held at the Chesed Shel Emes, and the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery, officiated by Rabbi Matthew Leibl, attended by pallbearers, Morrison Jacobs, Adli Jacobs, Darwin Lockhart, Mark Makarovsky, Michael Meyers, and Mark Kogan.
Donations in memoriam may be made to a charity of your choice.
We know his spirit will continue to be a blessing for all, if there was a way his neshamah would find it; to be the valiant progenitor for a great renewal in this world, in peace, love and humanism.
Obituaries
ETTIE (EDDY) WERIER
Ettie Werier passed away in her sleep on July 25, 2025, at the Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence in Winnipeg.
She will be hugely missed by her many friends and her family. Eddy was predeceased by her husband Lawrence, her younger sister Naomi (Wolfe), her older sister Sherry (Chochinov), her parents Max and Annie and her beloved grandson Koby.
Born Ettie Rubinfield in Ustryke Dolne, Poland in 1928, Eddy arrived in Winnipeg in 1931. She spent her childhood in the North End, where her parents ran a little grocery store on Alfred Avenue. She grew up to be a beautiful young woman with a warm smile and a quick mind.
She met Lawrence Werier, the love of her life, on a train ride to Winnipeg Beach. Eddy obviously wanted adventure, otherwise she would not have chosen Lawrence to be her beloved husband of more than 75 years, because he was always unconventional, but somehow this fit her perfectly. They were married in 1949 and started a family in 1952. While raising three children in River Heights, Eddy often travelled the world with Lawrence, visiting countless out-of-the-way beaches and dozens of countries.
Eddy had a quiet charisma. Maybe it was the mischievous sparkle in her eye or some droll bit of storytelling but all were attracted to her goodness, kindness and wit. Eddy was known for her intelligence, competitive spirit, and love for her family. She was an accomplished bridge player, and whether competing online or with her “bridge ladies,” she played to win, even on her last day. She was never an athlete, but at the age of 50 she took up tennis and became a force to be reckoned with until she retired her racket due to bad knees at the age of 85.
Eddy spent the last few years of her life enjoying the community at the Shaftesbury Residence and developed a strong and loving relationship with her companion and caregiver Tess Braun who is grieving the loss alongside the family, including Eddy’s surviving brother Jack Rubinfield. The family will especially miss the generous love and support she gave her children Kerry, Clifford and Jodie and their life partners Suzanne, Sabrina and Michael, and her grandchildren, Cynthia, Alex and Koby. Whether chatting with Grandma on Facetime or hugging her in her Shaftesbury suite, her family treasured the moments when we could come together in Winnipeg and bask in her smile. If you feel inclined to make a donation in Eddy’s memory, please choose a charity of your choice.
Obituaries
Dr. VELIMIR KON B.Sc., B.Ed., M.Sc., Ph.D. September 18, 1950-June 27, 2025
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Dr. Velimir Kon, or Shlomo, beloved husband of Branka and father of Deborah and Lea. Velimir was an accomplished teacher and academic, and he was renowned for his intellectualism, humility and humanity.
A gentle soul who was always sociable and who genuinely loved people, Velimir was equally at home in the university classroom as a professor and as a secondary school Biology, Chemistry and Math teacher in Northern Ontario (Big Trout Lake) and Manitoba (God’s River, Berens River). Velimir made a difference to many First Nations students throughout a career that spanned decades. He was dedicated to his students, colleagues and family. An adept and talented pianist, Velimir enjoyed the arts and of course Jewish humour. He was an avid shul goer and supporter of Israel and enjoyed his duties in shul as a Kohayn. Velimir was a man of faith who was able to fuse his love of science and Judaism.
Born in Croatia, Europe (the former Yugoslavia) to Shoah survivors Rose (Rochel, ne Lederer) and Arnold Kon (Ariel), Velimir immigrated to Canada with his wife and girls in 1988, making many personal sacrifices along the way to ensure a peaceful and safe life for his family. Adaptability and optimism characterized Velimir. Known for his heart of gold, Velimir touched the lives of all who had the privilege of knowing him. A love of Jewish values, family values and life-long learning and education characterized Velimir. With his charming, outgoing and friendly personality, Velimir welcomed everyone into his life and into our home.
His kindness, humour, generosity and goodness will be deeply missed by his family and friends in Winnipeg, Victoria, B.C., Guelph, ON, Osijek, Croatia, Belgrade, Serbia, Los Angeles and Boston, U.S.A., and Israel, Jerusalem, Haifa and Karmiel. Baruch Dayan Haemet.
A traditional funeral was held on June 30, 2025 at the Hebrew Sick Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can still be made to Chabad Lubavitch of Winnipeg, B’nai Brith or the JNF.
Velimir will be forever missed and cherished by Branka, Deborah and Lea.