Shumer and Geldzaeler families, Toronto

Admin History/Bio: Mark Geldzaeler was born in 1862 in Galicia, probably Kolbuszowa, and died in Toronto in 1932. His wife Yetta [Shumer] (1870-1952) had immigrated to Toronto from Stanislau with her parents, Louis (Leib) and Chava Shumer, in the mid-1880s. Mark and Yetta were married in Toronto on February 2, 1890.; Prior to his arrival in Toronto, Mark Geldzaeler had been a religious scholar and teacher in the old country. In 1892, he became the Assistant Chazan at Holy Blossom synagogue on Bond Street. This official title notwithstanding, he was also the synagogue's shamus [caretaker], religious school teacher, and bar mitzvah tutor. He lived with his family just behind the synagogue, in a property owned by the synagogue, before eventually moving to a house on Walmer Road.; The family had six children: Bernard (1891-1974) m. Hortense; Rose (1892-1966) m. Samuel Aaron Harris; Rachel (1897-?) m Isidore Ruskin; Solly (1899-1902); Alfred ("Alfie") Benjamin (1901-1918) d. of influenza during the epidemic; and Freda Frances (1907-2002) m. Simon Ramm.

Scope and Content: Item is a studio portrait of the Shumer and Geldzaeler families. Identified in the back row from left to right are: Lieb (Louis) Shumer, Chava (Fanny), Mark, [?], and Yetta. A few of Mark and Yetta's children might also be pictured.

Name Access: Geldzaeler family; Geldzaeler, Mark; Shumer, Chava; Shumer family; Shumer, Fanny; Shumer, Lieb; Shumer, Louis; Shummer, Yetta

Repro Restriction: Copyright is in the public domain and permission for use is not required. Please credit the Ontario Jewish Archives as the source of the photograph.