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MY BROTHER JACK’S LIFE I REMEMBERED 05/12/15

On behalf of my sister-in law Jan and myself and our family I want to thank you for taking the time to come here to-day. Jan through her constant love taught Jack to enjoy life.

Those of you who were fortunate to know my brother and were part of his life have stories to tell. He was a unique character.

When you were introduced to him he would simply extend his hand/smile and simply say: Please to meet you - I’m Jack. His clients in his legal practice cherished the man for his caring manner. Many a widow/widower would rely upon him in their time of need.

Recently Jan threw a birthday party for Jack. A lovely intimate evening where all spoke of their fondness for the birthday boy. He was as usual humble and at the same time eloquent in his response to the accolades. Jack sang along with an Elvis impersonator especially to the refrain -‘I did it my way.’

Jack was a little guy with a great spirit who would gladly take on the giants. Soaking wet he never weighed more then 130 pounds.

Being Jack’s brother wasn’t always fun. When people would ask if Jack was my brother I always replied, Why, what did he do lately? He always had an opinion and was a constant defender of people & animal rights.

When Jack was a fledgling lawyer he took exception to a police officer stopping me when I slid through a stop sign. The officer told me that he was only going to give me a warning. No way Jack told the cop. Give him a ticket. We will see you in court. When the summons arrived. Jack told me to just pay the fine. What are brothers for?

Jack was a very bright spontaneous individual who never was a loss for words..

The family pet, Cleo who was written up in the National Post -‘One bad dog’ was more infamous than Jack. One evening Cleo stole a salmon steak from Terry’s barbeque and proudly ran home. The neighbor in hot pursuit chased the culprit who was standing beside Jack with the incriminating evidence in her mouth. Terry told Jack that "your dog stole my steak". Jack admitted no wrong asking. "Prove it’s my dog."

Tuesday morning Jack was sitting at his computer at 6.00am probably searching the net for the latest news from the Jerusalem Post. Jack was an ardent Zionist who loved to spend time in Israel. He often spoke of his pride in his son, Stewart, and his family commitment to Israel.

Last week-end his daughter Laila told him that she and her husband Andy were going to have a new grandchild for him to spoil. He was oh so proud & happy. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Jack had a favourite psalm: You know it well. " A time to be born and a time to die. A time to laugh and a time to cry". Jack being Jack would have wanted us to-day to laugh and celebrate his life.

The sages tell us that; When you lose a child you lose the future. When you lose a parent you lose the past. When you lose a husband/wife you lose the present. When you lose a friend you lose part of yourself. To-day we all grieve at the passing of Jack. We all have been enriched for having him as a part of our lives

Those of you who knew him well know that he never ever said good-bye at the end of a telephone call. He would simply hang up the phone leaving you wanting to hear more. His voice is diminished but his memory will endure. Shalom Jack

To-morrow, December the 5th ,is my brother’s memorial day and I will remember him fondly.

Len Lesser