JOSEPH KIVES

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JOSEPH KIVES September 18, 1912 - October 2, 2012 According to Jewish tradition, exalted figures such as Moses and King David died on their birthdays. Joe Kives, a man exalted by his family, died within hours of a celebration marking his 100th year on Earth. In the early hours of October 2, 2012 Joe passed away peacefully in his bed at Winnipeg's Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre, also known as the Sharon Home, where he lived his last years with his loving wife, Claire. On October 1, dozens of Joe's family members and friends arrived at the Sharon Home to celebrate his 100th birthday. Unfortunately, Joe had fallen ill. Fortuitously, the famously generous and gregarious man managed to spend his last full day surrounded by people who loved him. Joe Kives was born in 1912 in a Jewish farming village at Eskisehir, a city in northwestern Turkey. After smallpox claimed his mother and brother, his family moved to Ankara and eventually settled at a Jewish farm colony in southeastern Saskatchewan. Joe came to Canada in 1928, at the age of 16, with his father Moses and sister Edith and lived among members of their extended family near the town of Oungre. Within a few years, Joe moved to Winnipeg, where he married Rose Shachnovksy and began what would become a long career as a small businessman and property manager. During the Depression, Joe sold bread on the streets of Winnipeg, employing a horse-drawn cart. He also owned a grocery store in the North End, ran a downtown billiards hall and start buying and maintaining apartment blocks. Living in the North End and later West Kildonan, Joe and Rose raised two sons, Harold and Raymond. Following the death of Rose in 1981, Joe met Claire Nepom, originally of Dauphin. The two married and spent the rest of their years together in West Kildonan as well as the Sharon Home. Joe retired at the age of 55 but continued to volunteer tirelessly on behalf of the Combined Jewish Appeal and other charities. Only in his final years did his extremely quick mind begin to slow. Joe is predeceased by his first wife Rose, his sister Edith, his son Harold and his stepbrother Max, who died after serving in the Second World War. He is survived by his wife Claire, his brother David, son Raymond, grandchildren Ronni, Cheryl, Bartley (Katarina), Sari (Allen), Stephanie (Anthony), Reagan (David) and Michael, and great-grandchildren Shai, Kaitlin, Ryan, Ben, Lyla, Eden and David. A funeral service for Joe is slated for 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 3 at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue, 561 Wellington Cres., followed by burial at Hebrew Sick Cemetery, 2605 McPhillips St. A meal of condolence will follow at the Shaarey Zedek. Pallbearers are slated to be Bartley Kives, Michael Kives, Stephen Rosenfield, Allen Ohana, David Macklin and Anthony Paikin. Honorary pallbearers, both present and absent, are David Kives, Milton Tenenbein, Allan Levine, Max Reich, Jack London, Mel Lazareck and Marvin Shenkarow. Donations in Joe's name may be made to the Jewish Foundation of Winnipeg.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Oct 03, 2012