Born March 15, 1914   |   Ratne (Ratno), Poland (now Ukraine) 

Died October 9, 1989   |   Calgary, Canada

He lived a life filled with gratitude and always said to his children, “Look down, not up. Appreciate how fortunate we are by considering those who have less.”

Prior to World War II, Joe—who was married and the father of a little boy—was a driver in his family’s privately owned passenger bus business. His routes included cities and towns in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and beyond. Joe’s skill behind the wheel may have saved his life. When the Red Army invaded Eastern Poland, they sent him to a labour camp in Siberia, where he was forced to drive army vehicles in a civilian role, sparing him the rigours of harder labour.

Following the war, Joe spent two years in a Displaced Persons camp near Ulm, Germany. He eventually learned that his wife, son and five of his six older brothers had been murdered by the Nazis; the fate of his parents remains unknown. Joe’s older brother Hymie, who had immigrated to Calgary in the early 1930s, sponsored his immigration to Canada and gave him a job at his produce stall in the City Hall Market. Three years later, Joe married Dorothy Steinberg. They bought and operated Chinook Grocery—living behind the Inglewood store with their children Eric and Barbara—and then Jay Dee Food Store in Altadore (named for their first initials). After selling the store in the early 1970s and working briefly in scrap metal, Joe worked from his home in Chinook Park, selling grocery consignments to restaurants, seniors’ homes and Hutterite colonies. Multilingual and hard-working, Joe never really retired. He was generous and charitable, extending credit to needy customers and supporting his synagogue, community and Israel. Witty and well-travelled, he always had a joke to share with his wide circle of friends, including Yiddish sayings that caused others to blush. Joe looked forward to becoming a zaide. Sadly, he passed away just 13 days before his grandson was born.