Obituaries
HARVEY I. POLLOCK, K.C.
Harvey was engrained prairie Manitoban, distinctly north end/ south end Winnipeg urban, and Whiteshell Canadian Shield strong. Each day he awaited sunrise to swing out of bed, activate his personality and engage in the enterprise he knew best: living his life. He loved his life; a gift. And he lived each day as if it were his last. Vibrant and enthusiastic, nothing about Harvey’s youthful 89-year presence was limited nor unadventurous. He never retired; he never unretired. He planned to be in his law office for Monday morning faceoff. But on Sunday, February 5, 2023, that old Yiddish adage “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht”, Man plans and God laughs, knocked. He was a good man deserving a painless peaceful passage in the comfort of his bed. Receiving a gentle kiss from God, he was gone.
This fourth child of Russian Jewish escapee immigrants was born April 10, 1933, at St. Joseph’s Hospital on Salter Street in Winnipeg. He was raised in Bethany, a child of the prairie, picking rocks off fields, bouncing uncontrollably on the metal tractor seat, absorbing blond wheatfields in the blue and fire open sky horizon. He attended country school. He loved his horse, Barney. He observed commerce, his father peddling eggs, furs and seneca root and marketing cattle and hogs. A country store was purchased as well as land to farm.
On February 5, 1944, while his father stayed behind to continue the cattle business and farming, the rest of the Pollock family relocated to north end Winnipeg. Better educational opportunities awaited. Harvey became a student at Machray School and St. John’s Tech. He was fun, active, with no mean spirit. Respect for teachers and authority figures was a life-long transmitted value. His currency was respect. He was invited into the “Trojans” club at the YMHA and made meaningful enduring friendships.
During university, Harvey worked the trains as a sleeping car conductor for CPR, Winnipeg to Calgary. He banked his cheques, spent his tips. Upon finishing his return route, he would hop the train and whistle the rails to Regina where he courted his soulmate, Sylvia Friedman, marrying on December 28, 1954.Their life together was a love story.
Having graduated from the University of Manitoba Law School in 1957, receiving his call to the Bar in 1958, Harvey served as counsel to the Children’s Aid Society of Winnipeg, worked for Hart Green Sr. and Jr., and opened his own firm in 1960. Harvey and Sylvia opened their home to unwed pregnant teenagers. Harvey found loving homes for beautiful babies. For years, Harvey drove Highway 1 west to Portage la Prairie, Thursdays at the Greenberg law firm. In the early 1960s, representing a client charged with Murder 1, thirty-something Harvey during cross examination extracted a compulsion in the chief witness to admit to the murder. A moment better than Perry Mason as this real-life client would have been executed.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood identified Harvey to champion the legal rights of First Nation Peoples. He was a legal pioneer acting resolutely in countless matters, empathetically with a view to creating meaningful change for coming generations. Talmudic justice coursed through Harvey’s belief system. Wrongs were to be righted and constitutional challenges governing hunting and fishing were now in the courts. Harvey was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1970, designated now as King’s Counsel. In 1971 Harvey had the great privilege of being made an Honourary Chief of all First Nations Bands in Manitoba. He was given and proudly received the name, “Si-Naki-Tonem”, he who interprets difficult meanings.
Access to justice was Harvey’s calling card. When J.J. Harper was shot and killed on March 9, 1988, his brother-in-law Harry Wood said, “Get me Harvey”. The Wasagamac Community had its warrior and to war went Harvey. Five words of which he knew the answer, “Did you fingerprint the gun?” set off his firestorm of representation as he cut through complexities in the wild jungle of cover-up and thereafter suffered personal victimization by police personalities seeking revenge for his excellence. He became a media darling. Inquest, Aboriginal Inquiry, civil lawsuit, LERA prosecution, Hugh’s Commission. Perseverance, fortitude, stomach. A book was spawned, “The Shooting Death of JJ Harper” and a television movie where he was prominent lawyer protagonist. The authorities who had attacked him suffered well-deserved criticism. He was “Tuffy”, true to his grade 9 nickname.
For six decades the courtroom was Harvey’s workshop. He was guided by a moral and professional compass. He came home for six o’clock dinner at 427 Boreham Blvd., conveyed material facts and circumstances of cases, and sought ‘learned opinions’ from his school-age children. He was setting the table for the future of his firm. Following dinner, he ritually rested, kissed and hugged his bride, and then returned to his command center to type his own documents and prepare for the next day’s court appearance.
Harvey was a litigator who genuinely cared about his clients. He made time for everyone regardless station in life. He was a centrist thinker. From a silver tongue his word was golden. A handshake was his professional passport. He maintained a profound respect for the courts, judges, law society, colleagues, and the police. He believed in law, order, and civility.
He was dapper in 3-piece suits, Dack shoes, at times topped by fedora. As part of his dapper, he used fountain pens and a blotter to sign letters and documents. Old school. He wore through dictaphones and tapes. He enjoyed having teeming thoughts recorded shorthand but as time travelled digital, he modified; the personal computer, voice activated dictation, iPad and iPhone becoming his techno-frenemies.
Harvey possessed a unique musical talent, his whistling. His instrument was a high pallet and controlled swirl of wind beckoned from unblemished lungs, tunneled through pursed lips. Perfect pitch in the pasture to an audience of cows, on the farm roads, in the school yard, on the streets of north end Winnipeg. Before hitting it big, with Romeo Champagne, he formed the Lipsomaniacs and performed while in university. Harvey practiced until his lips were chapped. Classical music was his acoustic comfort. In 1977 he won the first World’s Whistling Competition in Carson City, Nevada. That accomplishment led to the National Film Board production, “It’s A Hobby For Harvey” and thirty years later, “The Whistling Lawyer” (https://vimeo.com/63325043), and an album. Whistling also led Tuffy to some film work, television appearances, performances with the Winnipeg, Toronto and Bismarck Symphony Orchestras, and countless Manitoba small town fairs and variety shows. But the pinnacle moment in Harvey’s musical career came in 2003 when he had the privilege to guest conduct the WSO in full performance at an evening in his honour.
Harvey was a proud member of his Judaic Tribe. He was complex, skeptical of the address to whom he prayed. When asking his own father at a young age if he believed in a higher being the retort of wisdom came: “It couldn’t hurt.” But Harvey did hurt; on November 13, 1982 losing his 22-year-old son to a drunk driver, on November 30, 2009, losing his 54-year-old daughter and on August 31, 2011, his beloved wife. Work was his medicine. Family, friendships, the collegiality of the legal profession buoyed him from potential crumpling. Harvey was resilient, granite strong.
Sylvia and Harvey were fun; a healthy social circle of friends, they lived, danced, and attended myriad life cycle events. Together they attended the symphony, opera, and theatre. With children, Karyn, Martin and Nathan, memorable summers were Manitoba lived, Falcon Lake and West Hawk Lake. Yard work at his summer cottage, horseback riding, tennis, golf, reading, playing cards, perfecting barbequing skills, operating his twin engine power catamaran, and socializing punctuated time away from legal service.
Harvey was a functional diner, fuel to power his plant. Whatever the dish, be it Chinese or Italian cuisine, grilled rack of lamb, hamburgers,
or a Saturday schmaltz herring out of the barrel, his afterburn was the omnipotent proclamation, “this is the best… ever”.
For Harvey, being a loving, good, and responsible husband and father, devoted son, brother, in-law, cousin, uncle, and friend were deep in his DNA. He was proud to be a Pollock and a Friedman by proxy. His lifelong friendships were rich, cultured, and true.
In mourning are: son, Martin Pollock (Lori Hunter), son-in-law Daniel Globerman (Diane Ducas), brother Gordon Pollock, sister Cecile Kowall’ (Monte), grandsons Ethan, Jesse and Jayden Pollock, grandsons Adam (Dobrochna) and Noah (Samantha) Globerman, granddaughter Simmie Globerman (Kevin Minuk). Harvey was blessed to have great-grandchildren and will be missed by Saul, Mila, Kara, Max, and Sonny. Harvey also leaves to mourn sisters-in-law Pearl Kredentser and Lynne Pollock (Mischa). Harvey was predeceased by sister Myra Kravetsky and brother Mischa, brothers-in-law Lloyd Friedman (Lola), and Sam Friedman (Jean), sisters-in-law Faye Wasel (Harry), and Mimi Pollock.
Funeral services were held at the Chesed Shel Emes on Thursday, February 9, 2023, Rabbi Anibal Mass officiating, the Last Brief delivered by Martin followed by Jayden’s tribute on behalf of the grandchildren. The mitzvah of casket escort was performed by Zaida Harvey’s grandchildren. Interment occurred at Shaarey Zedek Cemetery.
To those who congregated at the funeral service, to those who attended online and to those who have reached out by email, text messaging, voicemail and by other means, Harvey’s family thank you for your support. The family also extends gratitude to Estelle Raber of Shaarey Zedek, and to Rena Boroditsky and Sheldon Kaminsky of Chesed Shel Emes, and the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery workers who, with dignity and caution, assisted the family tucking in the blanket of earth for eternal rest.
Donations may be made to a charity of choice.
Obituaries
ARTHUR WORTZMAN
Surrounded by his family Arthur Wortzman, lovingly known as Art, passed away peacefully on December 21, 2025.
He is survived by his wife Adele Wortzman; his three children, Anita Wortzman (Ron Yurman), Susan Wortzman (Glenn Smith), Jason Wortzman (Teresa Rogers); his grandchildren, Lexie (Jacob), Haley, Liam, Hannah and Jack and his great-grandchildren, Shiloh and River.
Born in Winnipeg in 1929, Art grew up in the vibrant West End of Winnipeg as the youngest of three children. His upbringing was unique for the time, with his parents, Harry and Tillie, working together in their ladies’ clothing stores in Winnipeg and Vancouver. This partnership allowed for a bustling household, filled with the laughter of friends and family.
Art shared a close bond with his siblings, George and Eleanor, and their respective spouses Glory and Howie(Silver), as well as with his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Allan and Marsha Maslove. Art inherited many wonderful traits from his parents: from his father, he learned the importance of love and devotion to one’s spouse, and from his mother, he gained a sense of humor, fun, and adventure.
Art’s love for his wife was evident throughout their 66 years of marriage. Adele reciprocated his love and care, looking after him at home and then ensuring he was never alone during his stays at Shaftesbury and Victoria Hospital.
Art’s legacy extends beyond his family. He was a talented athlete, playing football for Gordon Bell High School and U of M Law. Art pursued law at the University of Manitoba and practiced law for over 50 years, known for his ethics, practicality, and dedication. Art’s sense of humor, wisdom, and kindness were well-known. He was a mentor and friend to many, offering wise counsel and support to many clients, friends and other lawyers.
Art’s adventurous spirit was evident throughout his life in Winnipeg, at Falcon Lake and travels to Mexico and Israel. He introduced his family to many activities, from snowmobiling to cross-country skiing, and completed a marathon at 52 years old. He was always game for fun, whether it was Lake Olympics or a historic bike ride on Pipeline Road. In his later years, Art continued to embrace new experiences, from ziplining across the Jordan River to making bread with his grandchildren. He was a talented craftsman, creating Adirondack chairs and vegetable gardens at the lake. Art’s love for learning inspired his family. His grandchildren, Lexie, Haley, Liam, Hannah, and Jack, shared countless adventures and cherished moments with their Zaida.
He was a talented card player, a voracious reader, and a lover of family dinners and games. Art’s legacy lives on in his children, Anita, Susan and Jason who have followed in his footsteps in various ways.
A special thank you to Juhn and Gerlie and several other dedicated caregivers who supported him like a family member. Thank you also to the wonderful staff at the Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence and the Victoria Hospital.
Services were held on December 23, 2025, at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. Please consider a donation to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, Art and Adele Wortzman Fund.
Art’s life was a testament to the values of love, family, friendship, and adventure. His legacy will continue to inspire those who knew him.
Art, Dad and Zaida – you will be deeply missed, but your spirit will live on in each of us.
Obituaries
CARY RUBENFELD
Cary Rubenfeld, beloved husband, father, zaida, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and friend, passed away on December 4, 2025, at the age of 72. Cary lived a life defined by kindness, curiousity, humility, and a deep commitment to the people and communities he loved.
Above all, Cary was a family man. He was raised in a family shaped by Jewish resilience and history. He was born to George and Sally Rubenfeld in 1953. His father George and two aunts, Rachel and Regine, survived the Holocaust in France, and the legacy of that survival grounded Cary’s values throughout his life. He carried forward a strong Jewish identity through his early Judaic studies, and this continued to evolve in adulthood as he built a home alive with tradition and Jewish values.
For more than 40 years, Cary shared his life with his wife, Marion. Together they built a home, a business, and a relationship filled with warmth, humour, and unwavering devotion. They worked side by side in their wholesale garden supply and later an import business, travelled the world together, and supported one another with tenderness and resilience. Marion was Cary’s partner in every sense, and their devotion to each other was a foundation for the entire family.
As a father to Michael (Magda) and Sara (Rob), Cary was a steady and loving presence—gentle, attentive, and always remaining connected to their worlds. His kindness shaped them in ways that they will carry forward and aspire to in their lives. Later in life, he delighted in spending time with his grandchildren, Emry, Kian and Lev.
Cary was the cherished brother of Perry Rubenfeld, with whom he shared a lifelong bond of family, memory, and affection. Cary and Perry tragically lost their mother at a young age. Their close-knit family continued to support and raise them.
Professionally, Cary was known for his integrity. He believed that success in business meant acting fairly, ethically and with compassion. He built strong relationships across North America and Asia, earning respect not only for his expertise, but for his genuine interest in others. He was thoughtful, patient, and guided by a sense of moral clarity.
Outside of business, Cary cultivated passions that brought him community and purpose. His involvement in amateur radio—an interest that reawakened later in life—connected him to people around the world. A lifelong learner, he attended international conventions, helped newcomers enter the hobby, and even earned recognition as Canadian Amateur Radio Operator of the Year. Friends from across continents described him as humble, generous, and quietly inspiring—a man who motivated others not through ego, but through sincerity.
Cary was also a dedicated member of the Chavurat Tefilah – Talmud Torah congregation, where he served as treasurer and was instrumental in resurrecting regular Shabbat services in the synagogue after COVID. His love of Judaism deepened through study, particularly with a small Torah group he helped create—an intimate circle of friends who learned together each week, even across cities and time zones. His thirst for knowledge, especially when shared with others, was one of his defining traits.
Cary faced significant health challenges with remarkable courage. Diabetes, kidney disease, and heart complications never dimmed his optimism. He continued to travel, make plans, and pursue learning. He arranged dialysis across Canada, the United States, and even Poland so he could keep living life fully and on his own terms.
For those who wish to make a charitable donation in Cary’s memory, please consider providing a cheque to the Chavurat Tefilah – Talmud Torah Synagogue (459 Hartford Ave., Wpg, MB) or an e-transfer to chavuratt@gmail.com or donating to the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
Obituaries
NELLIE (NELL) LABOVITCH
Nellie (Nell) Labovitch passed away peacefully in her home on December 1, 2025, leaving behind a legacy of love and cherished memories. Our hearts are grateful for the 103 years she blessed our lives.
Nell was predeceased by her beloved husband Morris of 56 years (2000), her eldest daughter Shelley Nimchonok (2019) and son-in-law Robert (Bob) Walker (2015). Nell will forever be missed by her children Connie (Darrel) Donen, Joy Walker (Bob), Sharon Elston, and son-in-law Meyer Nimchonok (Shelley) and her grandchildren Kevin (Mony) Nimchonok, Shauna (Aaron) Lindzon, Maury Donen (Jennifer Luong), Jason Donen (Kristin Macaraeg), Erin Walker, Adam (Samantha) Walker, Sean Walker (Lindsey Markusson), Chad (Sawako) Elston, Cori (Tonio) Ettienne and her great-grandchildren Jay, Eli, Jordan, Emily, Max, Carmen, Matteo, Logan, Dylan, Caleb, Hana, Jun, Prism and Onyx and her brothers, Sam (predeceased Rita) Bebchuk, Dr. William (Elaine) Bebchuk and a multitude of nieces and nephews.
Nell was predeceased by her parents, Ettie and Joseph Bebchuk, her sisters, Marian Margolis (Joe Berz), Bessie (Mitchell) Schachter and parents- in-law, Rachel, and Hymie Labovitch; brothers and sisters inlaw, Sam Labovitch, Dr. Bill Lyons, Jack Lyons; Brina Bressler, Lil Seigel, Rose Weiner, and Sylvia Fritz.
Nell and Morris were married within a short courtship of only three weeks as they knew immediately that they were for each other. The connection that they had was undeniable. They were renowned for their shared love of dancing and moving together with extraordinary elegance and effortless skill. They met life’s challenges with a united front, setting a beautiful example of their lifelong commitment.
Nell took pride in her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren and always made each one of them feel special. She enjoyed pampering everyone with their favourite dishes. Her life was filled with an abundance of family, laughter, love, and optimism.
Even in her later years Nell remained vigorous and active, powerwalking at her gym into her late 90’s. One had to stand in line for a chance to be one of her walking partners, even when she was walking with a walker. Her nightly ritual was to say special prayers not only for everyone who needed praying for, but also for those who were close to her. On special occasions it was a treat to receive her amazing poetry. Nell retained a remarkably keen mind and enjoyed tackling word games well into her 90’s.
In her later years, she was surrounded by a phenomenal team of caregivers who considered her as close as a grandmother. With special gratitude to Ruth, and Amandeep who were by her side until the end. With thanks also to Jenna and The Right At Home staff. She was truly an extraordinary soul, matriarch, and an inspiration to us all.
Nell’s joyful spirit is heartfelt and will forever be with us. We will all live by three words that she recited endlessly to everyone that she met – “Enjoy, Enjoy, Enjoy.”
Funeral Services were held on December 3, 2025, at a private graveside ceremony for immediate family members. Thank you to the Pallbearers: Maury Donen, Jason Donen, Adam Walker, Erin Walker, Chad Elston, and Tonio Ettienne.
If desired, donations may be made to a charity of your choice or plant a tree in Nell’s memory.