My hope is that I’ll be able to post several eulogies, videos and pictures here. Please send me anything you’d like posted.
Pictures:
Video:
VIDEO: Grandma Glass, Passover 2001
VIDEO (alternate format): Grandma Glass, Passover 2001
Obituary:
Original link here:
http://classifieds.hamiltonspectator.com/HOLCSApp/do/attribute_view_ad?adID=5360066&categoryName=ANNOUNCEMENTS&classId=3080
GLASS, Ida A beautiful woman passed away on April 23, 2009, just shy of her 97th birthday. Her name was Ida A. Glass and she will be reunited with her husband Walter P. Glass. Wishing you guys a good time up there. Ida Glass (nee Marcus) was an incredible daughter, wife, mother of Bernard and Reesa, grandmother and great-grandmother, sister and friend. Everyone who was lucky enough to have known her will remember her as a treasure. Funeral: Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 2 p.m. United Hebrew Memorial Chapel, 28 Ewen Rd. Donations to Shalom Village, Hamilton.
Eulogies:
Eulogy: Martin C. Winer (Grandson) Ida A. Glass (1912 – 2009)
Grandma Glass brimmed with a bright and glowing personality which rose to fill a room much like her cakes and pastries. Grandma was known to others as: Ida Adele Glass. Grandma herself added Adele to her moniker as though two names could not contain her character. She was right. Grandma was always on the go with one project or hobby or what have you. Grandma attended bridge games, outing clubs, wrote book reviews for the local library, did knitting and needle point, collected antiques and of course there was the constant cooking and baking.
When Grandma arrived in Toronto for a holiday celebration, a ten minute procession of circular cookie tins lined with wax paper ensued. One by one bearers would ferry in stacks of tins laden with banana muffins topped with walnuts, hand made strawberry jam strudel, coconut macaroons, mandel broit, and my favourite, blueberry cake. Only after some time had passed and the procession had ended did Grandma and Grandpa make it to the door where they provided my brother and I with an eagerly anticipated Hot Wheel car or Lego set. Visits from Grandma were a cornucopia of sweet delicacies and toys. “Could anyone be cooler than this?” thought the 8 year old boy I was at the time.
Trips in the opposite direction, Toronto to Hamilton, were equally ‘cool’. Grandma’s apartment was one of the first apartments we knew of to have a pool. When we arrived we were greeted by the usual cakes and pastries and Tuna casserole. Now Grandma new I was a fussy eater, not given to eating fish, and always had a supply of applesauce and Jello on hand. Cakes, cookies, jello, a pool and toys. My parents had told me that Hamilton was a city famous for making steel. Well I didn’t see any steel here, I saw heaven.
Grandma’s apartment was adorned with antiques and the walls plastered with her needle point work. The knick knacks were ever changing. As a child I imagined that Grandma had a warehouse of knick knacks which she constantly exchanged to keep the place looking fresh. It didn’t take me too many more visits to realize that Grandma actually gave away all her knick knacks only to create more to replace them. The cost of owning anything in Grandma’s house was mentioning you liked it. Visitors to Grandma’s place always left laden with baked goods, Grandma’s craft items and antiques.
Grandma lit up when her grandchildren were in the room. She relished stories of what we had done and what we were interested in doing. Her faith in us inspired greatness – not wanting to disappoint such an avid fan. Grandma bought me my first doctor’s play kit from the IGA we were visiting to foster my interest in medicine. Later on she, along with my Grandfather and Uncle, got me my first Merck Manual – a doctor’s handbook. My interest in Science eventually led me to Computer Science rather than Medical Science, but I’m sure she’d be equally supportive of my choice.
Towards the latter years, with her health starting to fail, we saw a distillation of Grandma’s character with the key components still shining through. In one of her early stays in the hospital I remember noting that Grandma had gone to the trouble of putting on a broach and was still well put together. Grandma was always prim and proper. In the convalescent home, her love for reading persisted to the very end, even beyond her ability to speak. One small event sticks with me in that it perfectly captures Grandma’s love for all of us.
In one of the last Passovers she attended in Toronto, at the end of the usual procession of cookie tins, Grandma needed to sit down; she wasn’t feeling well. She asked me repeatedly to fetch some icing sugar to ice the cake with. I remember wondering: “what difference did it make, it was only family anyways?” But there was no such distinction for Grandma. Her family was royalty. So when I realized the importance to her, I sprinkled the cake with icing sugar and she looked relieved. I remember thinking that love can be uniquely expressed by a bunt cake. It was her display of caring and affection to all that shared in it. It was a culinary work of art made lovingly just for us from the kitchen of Ida Adele Glass.
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Ida Adele Glass
Chayyalah bat Ya’acov v’Rivkah
April 26, 2009
Rabbi Jordan Cohen
There is some controversy around the Ayshet Hayyil nowadays, the passage from Proverb 31 which describes a woman of valour. In a post-feminist age, measuring the worth of a woman by how she satisfies the needs of her husband and children seems to be little anachronistic and ignores the essential essence of who a woman is as an individual. But for woman of a certain generation, these qualities of trustworthiness and integrity, of service to family and community, of dignity, kindness and strength, represent not only the most essential values of life, but ideals to be striven towards each and every day without exception. Ida Glass was, indeed, a woman of that generation, and, indeed, she represented all that our tradition revered in the Ayshet Hayyil .
Ida Marcus was born here in Hamilton in June 1912 to Jacob and Rebecca Marcus. She was the youngest of four daughters, all of whom pre-deceased her: Eva, Esther, and Millie, who passed away only recently. Throughout her life Ida maintained the qualities that would describe her right to the end of her days: she was a vibrant woman, endlessly optimistic and positive. She was elegant, with fine taste. She was an exceptional hostess, knowing all about protocol, and eager to mentor younger women to be hostesses as well. She was fiercely loyal to her family, beginning with her parents and sisters and continuing all the way to her great-grandchildren. Family was family, and that was all that mattered. She was regarded as a highly gifted woman. Although her education extended only to the end of high school, she always seemed to have solutions to problems that evaded even professionals. Many came to her for her wise counsel. This probably extended from her incredible passion for reading. She was always reading books, bringing home new books from the library and even start to write book reports, which she would share with her family, which were then published in the local library newsletter.
Ida worked for many years, in clothing and linens, and those she worked for quickly came to rely on her for natural talents at business and organization. But work and family were never enough, and Ida maintained a whirlwind of volunteer activity, taking leadership roles with the Temple Anshe Sholom and the Temple’s Devora Sisterhood, the National Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah. And, as if this was not enough, there were the social activities: bridge games, outing clubs, the Saturday nighters, knitting and needle point, collecting antiques and the seemingly never-ending time in the kitchen cooking and baking.
Ida was in her early 20s when she met her beloved Walter and the married when she was 23, in 1935. Soon Bernard and Reesa came along, and Ida had her own family, which she longed for. Bernard remembers their childhood as being ideal, which their mother always there for them, constantly caring and providing guidance and wisdom. Reesa recalls their home having what seemed like a revolving door. The house was always full of people, the coffee pot always on and the delicious homemade goodies that were always available to go with the coffee. No matter how busy, Ida always had time for family and friends. Always available, always the consummate hostess, always willing to help. She was always doing something, hardly ever resting, and when she did lie down, she would do so for exactly 15 minutes and then resume her activities, totally refreshed.
The last couple of years were difficult for Ida and her family, and, beginning around the time of Walter’s passing in 2000, her health began to decline. She eventually moved into Shalom Village, becoming known there as the “Queen of Shalom” for her hospitable, caring and loving nature. She was a real lady, a true Ayshet Huyyal right to the very end.
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Eulogy: Ida Glass by Reesa Winer (Daughter)
My mother’s house had a revolving front door. Her home and kitchen were always full of people, the coffee pot was always on and delicious homemade goodies went with the coffee. She was a extremely sociable woman who always had time for her friends.
She was actively involved in the community taking leadership roles. Temple Anshe Shalom, The National Council of Jewish Women and Hadassah.
She assisted several family members in their businesses, acting as a sales person. She was always doing something, hardly ever resting and when she did she would lie down for exactly 15 mins. and then resume her duties, totally refreshed.
She loved nature, always commenting on the beauty of trees, flowers and the world around her. ————————————————————————————————-
Eulogy: Ida Glass by Jeremy Glass (Grandson)
There are so many gifts of heritage and identity that a grandmother imparts to her family along the way. If there are core family values passed down through many generations, Grandma and Grandpa you instilled in us and others integrity, honesty, pride, industriousness, grit and determination. I will always remember you as so very well put together, so strong on your own two feet, smart as a tack, so giving to us on our visits; one must mention how stylish and polished you and grandpa were as a couple, and of course you were the best baker on this side of the continent. The pride and loyalty you showed towards our father and Auntie Reesa have modeled to us what we should expect from our elders and what the young people around us should expect from us.
The Glass family has lost its beauteous matriarch. Grandma Glass, I send you our love, and I send my sympathy to the rest of our family as we celebrate the heritage and pride you have modeled and instilled in us.
