Saul Laskin (1918 - 2008)

Born 15 May 1918 in Fort William, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Died 4 Oct 2008 at age 90 in Toronto, Ontario,Canada

Biography

Saul Laskin is Notable.

Saul Laskin is/was a significant Ontarian .

Saul Laskin has Jewish Roots.

Saul Laskin was a Canadian politician. He was the first mayor of the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Born in Fort William, Ontario, he was the younger brother of jurist Bora Laskin. He was educated in Fort William and Toronto, and served overseas in World War II. In 1938 he took over his father's furniture store and opened a new store in Port Arthur in 1946, which he operated until the 1980s when he moved to Toronto with his wife Adele.

His political career began in 1959 when he was elected as an alderman in Port Arthur. He was elected mayor in 1962, a position he would hold until 1969, when Port Arthur and Fort William amalgamated to become Thunder Bay. He was elected mayor of Thunder Bay, and held the position until 1972. Laskin was the first and only Jewish mayor elected at the Lakehead.

In 1963 federal election, he ran unsuccessfully as a Liberal in the riding of Port Arthur, losing to the New Democratic Party candidate, Douglas Fisher.

Laskin sat on the board of governors at Lakehead University for 15 years, and received an honorary doctorate and the title of Fellow of Lakehead University. In retirement, he lived in Toronto with his wife Adele Tritt whom he married in 1946. He died of a heart attack on 4 October 2008, and is survived by five children and twelve grandchildren.

His brother was the first Jewish Justice on the Supreme Court of Canada.

Laskin is buried at Holy Blossom Memorial Park alongside his brother Bora Laskin in Toronto.

Obituary in Toronto Globe and Mail

Politician Saul Laskin died Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto after collapsing at his home. He was 90.

Born in Fort William, Ontario, on May 15, 1918, he was the youngest of three sons of Max and Bluma (Zingel) Laskin. His eldest brother, the-late Bora Laskin, was a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

A veteran of the Second World War, Mr. Laskin served in the Canadian Army with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders in Holland and Germany and was part of the Canadian forces that liberated Bergen-Belsen.

After the war Mr. Laskin owned and operated Laskin's Furniture and Appliances in what is now Thunder Bay for more than 40 years. He entered municipal politics in the late 1950s, serving as alderman of Port Arthur from 1959 to 1962, and then mayor until 1969. An enthusiastic supporter of the amalgamation of the twin cities of Port Arthur and Fort William, Mr. Laskin became mayor of the new city of Thunder Bay in 1970, a position he held until 1972. A passionate advocate of social justice and civic participation, he was also on the board of governors of Lakehead University for 15 years. In the late 1980s he retired from the furniture business.

Mr. Laskin is survived by his wife of more then 60 years Adele Tritt, three daughters and two sons, a dozen grandchildren and his extended family. The funeral is Monday at Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel on Steeles Avenue at 10:00 am.

Sources

See Also:

• theglobeandmail.com/news/national/saul-laskin-90/article1063405/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Laskin
• Find a Grave (has image), Find A Grave: Memorial #52447873 (accessed 25 June 2023), Memorial page for Saul Laskin (15 May 1918-4 Oct 2008), citing Holy Blossom Memorial Park, Scarborough, Toronto Municipality, Ontario, Canada; Maintained by Kris 'Peterborough K' Peterson (contributor 46537737).