Generations of community service

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

Marjorie Groberman came to Vancouver with her family in 1937 and she began her community work soon thereafter – work that continues to this day.

"We've had three generations in Vancouver," said Groberman, who turned 90 this week. "And I have a granddaughter, 21, and one day – my mother, [daughter] Hilde and I have all been chairman of Federation – and she got up one day and said, 'I'm going be the fourth generation for UJA.'" The UJA (United Jewish Appeal) has evolved into the Jewish Federation system and its annual campaign. Groberman has seen many such changes over the years.

When she and her family came here, her father, Harry Frome, opened a small jewelry store on Hastings Street near Main.

"Edmonton was very cold and he was having trouble breathing, so we decided we should move to Vancouver, it would be nicer. My father came originally from Lithuania and I have a picture of him – it hangs in the Jewish Community Centre – he went to Prince Rupert in 1910. There's a picture of him in Prince Rupert, of Jewish men, that was taken on the street."

Her mother, Betty, "was born in Saskatchewan from a huge [family], they were 12 kids and her mother and father came from a homestead and all the kids were born there."

Groberman has a younger brother, Allan. About how they were raised, Groberman said of her parents, "They never had much money, but they had a sense of, they taught me the values, really, of life – and it really wasn't about money. [It was] about how to be charitable with whatever you've got, how to help people in the community, how to be a good person."

In 1941, she married Cecil Groberman, who has since passed away. They have two children, Hilde and Jeffrey, who each have two grown children.

"I have four fabulous grandchildren," said Groberman. "In the respect that I have a wonderful relation with them and it's not based on giving them things, it's because I always have time for them. I didn't have time for my kids, you know, I was busy, but I have all the time in the world," she said, bringing out photos of them. "This is my great-granddaughter. I never thought I'd get one of those in my life, either."

Much of Groberman's volunteer work has been with Hadassah-WIZO, moving up through the organization and, ultimately, being on the world executive for four years.

"I was heart-broken," she said about the Hadassah Bazaar ending after almost 60 years. Groberman orchestrated the first Hadassah Bazaar here in 1952, at the Seaforth Armory, and set up other bazaars across Canada.

Groberman also helped start the first local women's Israel Bonds drive.

"I was president of Hadassah at the time," she explained, "when one of the leaders of the men's [drive] called me and said, 'We're going to start selling Israel Bonds ... and I want you to chair the first drive.'

"I said to him, 'I can't. I'm the president of Hadassah, I can't do it, it's too much.' Long story short, I chaired it. And I said to him, 'Women don't have any money. How are you going to get money?' This was in 1955, when we had started a women's division ... we sold $75,000 worth of bonds to the women. I don't know where some of them even came up with the money. We used to pay them off $10 a month."

Groberman said, "I love creating. I like to set the pattern and move on. I don't like to do the same thing twice. I like to start things. Usually, nobody agrees with me, so I didn't care. If I wanted to do it, I didn't think of failing, but I did a few times.

"In looking back on my life, in essence, it's been a great life. And I think everybody should look forward to being 90, and then you get a certain freedom."

She's using her freedom these days to promote the JCC Seniors, who are based in the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCCGV).

She has fundraised for JCCGV seniors programming before, notably by organizing duplicate bridge games at the centre. For the first two years, she said, she was subsidizing the activity, buying the coffee and the cream, for example. Then it "suddenly took off," she said. "Yesterday, we broke a record. We had 23 tables.... And it's the main source of fundraising for the seniors department. Now, it's so successful, but it's 13 years later."

Referring to the music program at the JCCGV, Groberman said, "I've found another love." When she first heard Dr. Ed Lewis perform at the centre, "it blew me away. I couldn't believe it." She asked him if he would volunteer to run a music program and he agreed.

"Our programming is the finest in the city for any centre," she said, noting the world-class musicians that Lewis has brought in. For example, pianists Robert and Ellen Silverman will perform an afternoon concert in the Norman Rothstein Theatre on Sept. 30.

In the midst of talking about the seniors committee, Groberman said, "I forgot to tell you, in the middle of this, I had a heart attack. Last November, I had a heart attack. I had a whole preview of my life, running around. Anyway, I'm fine. I'm fine."

While she has since stepped down as committee chair, Groberman said, "Now, I want to do the publicity." She added, "I don't know how to do a press release – I'm going to find out."

She said, "My goal is to build up the attendance. I've got a fabulous committee. I've got people committed. We've done a survey, we know what's out there, but how to get them to come to the programs. You know, the tickets are cheap. The programs are top notch. You don't have to go Downtown. We have parking. And we have a beautiful theatre."

Of her successes and her drive, Groberman said, "I always have been very determined and if I want to do something, I want to do it."

This quality helped her, no doubt, when, at 56, she found herself needing to get a paying job. She became a real estate agent. "I learned because I wrote out the whole book," she said. "I'd read the page and I'd turn it over and I'd write. It was the only way I could learn the course." She was in real estate for 20 years.

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