EVELYN (CHAVI) KATZ (CANTOR)

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EVELYN (CHAVI) KATZ
(nee CANTOR)

Evelyn passed away at aged 89 years on Monday, January 27, 2020.
She was predeceased by her husband Phil, her sister Sheila, and her parents, Moishe and Rebecca.
Evelyn leaves behind a legacy through both her family and within the Jewish community. She is survived by her children, Laurence and wife Zoe, Jennifer, and Aviva (Vivi) and husband Alan. She was a beloved "Bubby" to her three grandchildren, Jorel, Zachary, and Jessica, whom she adored.
Evelyn was born in Winnipeg, but spent many years as a child in the 1930's travelling, as her father taught in Houston, Texas and Peabody, Massachusetts. Her dedication to social justice and human rights began in the early years, when she was known in Houston as the only white child who would play with the "black kids" who lived a few blocks away. Her family returned to Winnipeg, where her father became the co-principal of the I. L. Peretz School, a secular humanist Jewish school that emphasized Yiddishkeit – cultural affiliation and humanism, rather than religion. She became very involved with "Habonim" a Jewish youth group actively supporting the establishment of the State of Israel following the holocaust. Evelyn went on to university where she completed first a Bachelor's and then a Master's degree in social work, something that was unusual for her day. She moved to Montreal with two girlfriends, where she worked as a social worker in a hospital for veterans, and participated in civil rights and interfaith efforts in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1963, Evelyn returned to Winnipeg as her father had become ill, and it was at this time she met her future husband Phil, an adolescent psychiatrist who himself had just returned to Winnipeg from New York to start up a practice. They were married in 1964, and remained so until Phil died at age 86 in 2017.
In Winnipeg, Evelyn worked as the Director of Social Work at the Winnipeg General Hospital until stopping work there when she had her three children. While her children were school aged she worked as a Field Instructor at the University of Manitoba in the School of Social Work for a many years. She also became very active in the Jewish community. Evelyn was an inspirational and visionary leader. She realized the community needed to research its population patterns in order to plan for the future, so she began creating a demographic database of the Jewish community that she continued to manage, by hand, for 35 years. This data allowed her to be a leader in the community, in partnership with several others, of major endeavours including the amalgamation of the three Jewish schools into a single Board of Jewish Education, the building of the Holocaust Memorial on the Legislature grounds, the building of the Asper Jewish Community Campus, and the movement of the Sharon Home from the North end to a new site in the south, the Simkin Centre. Evelyn chaired each of the related boards, The Board of Jewish Education, The Jewish Community Council, and the Board of the Simkin Centre, at the time these major innovations were being debated and steered them to their successful completion.
Evelyn cared deeply for her family, for the survival of the Jewish community and the Jewish people, and most of all for her children and grandchildren. She leaves behind an admirable list of accomplishments that will serve the community for generations, and a family raised to carry on her passion for human rights, equity, and inclusivity. The world has lost a bright light no single person can replace - it will be for all to carry forward her legacy.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Feb 08, 2020