The Montreal Jewish community has lost one of its prominent philanthropists.
Gordon Schwartz, an entrepreneur, recently died at age 55.
Schwartz was slated to chair the Montreal Jewish Federation Combined Jewish Appeal’s 50th anniversary mission to Israel this month.
His involvement in Jewish community events began during his teen-age years. He was chairman of the Quebec region of Maccabi Canada, general campaign chairman of the 1990 Combined Jewish Appeal and immediate past president of the Jewish Community Foundation.
He was also active with the YM-YWHA Montreal Jewish Community Center as well as numerous other Canadian and Israeli organizations.
One notable personal quest was Schwartz’s liberation of part of a tree from the Thereisenstadt concentration camp. He arranged for the piece to be brought to Israel and replanted in front of a children’s memorial at Yad Vashem.
Schwartz was co-owner of Canadian Paper and Packaging Company, the largest independent paper and cardboard distributor in Quebec.
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