Feder, Ben

1 Story about “Feder, Ben”

1. Marsha Sandler says:

   August 2, 2013 at 2:23 am

   Ben Feder was my grandfather, father to Rose Feder whom he and Sarah adopted when she was five, after the death of her mother. Her two siblings were adopted by two Jewish families, the Prestons in Windsor ON and a family on Long Island, N.Y. Rose married Joe Lifsches (later changed to Lieff) and they had one daughter, Marsha who married Arnold Sandler (d. 2004). Our two daughters, Tracy (m. Ken Herlin- two children Jonathan and Maddie) and Samantha (m. Steven Tishler- two children Rachel and Amanda) live in Toronto, practicing law and medicine respectively under their Sandler name.

   Rose is now a hearty 98, having moved to Shalom Village Nursing Home in Hamilton this past March, from the assisted living apartments where she has been for the past 11 years. After Joe died in a fishing accident in 1971 in Halifax, Rose moved back to Hamilton and then to Brooklyn N.Y. married to Samuel Fleischer whom she met in Florida. They retired to Tamarac Fla in 1974 where she lived until returning to Hamilton, about 10 years after Sam’s death.

   There were very few pictures of Ben and he never travelled with Sarah, not wanting to leave the store. According to my mother Rose, he was a loving father who loved to gamble. There are some hilarious stories as told by Rose of some escapades during Sarah’s trips away. Even though he appeared dour, he was a very doting grandfather, and during the war, I would receive a shoe-box with new patent shoes, and chocolate bars. I have a memory of being a 4 year old, sitting on the floor in the sunroom of their home on Lorway Ave. in Sydney, while we rolled the ball back and forth along the checkered floor. I still have the bamboo den set that he sat on. Even though he died when I was 9, my memories of him and my grandmother Sarah, as well as Uncle Ephraim and Aunt Bella are vivid. I also adored Uncle Hymie Moraff who was a smiling gentle personality in my memory, and I recall being taken as a terrified child to see Grandpa’s and Aunt Ida’s mother who was in her 90’s then and lived with the Moraffs.

   Although adopted, Rose always felt a true member of both the Feder and Nathanson families, and kept in touch whenever possible. On a trip to Israel some years ago, her cousin Shirley met with her in Tel Aviv, I believe. This is a wonderful project and I will make sure Mom gets to read it. Thank you for all your efforts.

   Marsha Sandler

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