Obituary of Jerry Goose

At Chateau Gardens, following a long illness, in his 93th year. Jerry is survived by his wife Fanny (Fania) Goose, with whom he would have celebrated 67 years of marriage this May. Father to sons Martin Goose (Heather) of Toronto and Steve Goose Garrison (Michelle Campbell) of London. Zady to grandchildren, Rebecca Weiss (Mikey) of New York, Michael (Jaime) of New York, and Danielle Turk (Stuart) of Toronto. Greatly blessed with recently-arrived great grandchildren, Nathan Weiss and Serena Turk. Jerry was the "J. Goose" in J. Goose Family Clothing, a 50-year retail fixture of downtown London until 2010. He was the only surviving member of his immediate family who perished in Poland during World War II. Together, Jerry and his wife Fanny began a new life together in Canada after the war. From meagre beginnings peddling clothing door to door, to selling clothing to farmers in rural southwestern Ontario out of a panel truck, to opening the first J. Goose Family Clothing location on Dundas Street East, Jerry and Fanny built a strong, well-known retail business in London. With their involvement in their community, J. Goose Family Clothing was as much a meeting place for people downtown as it was a successful retail operation. As Jerry and Fanny prospered, they slowly built a growing real estate business, J & F Realty, that continues today. Jerry maintained a deep commitment to his Jewish faith and community throughout his life. He was a proud, founding member of Beth Tefilah Synagogue of London, and later a devoted member of Or Shalom Synagogue. Shabbat was especially dear to him, as were High Holidays and family simcahs. In 2007, and already in failing health, Jerry’s life story was told as part of the Voices of the Survivor Series during Yom Hashoah celebrations that year. In that moving tribute, Jerry’s life story was recited by a young person, in part, as follows: "My name is Jerry Goose. I was born on December 20, 1919 in Berezno, Poland. I was the youngest of eleven children, son to parents Gnasha and Mordechai. My father was a successful butcher who supplied the military, and we lived in a large house on Kopernicka Street. In 1942, when the Germans invaded Poland, my home was bombed. My parents were in the basement and miraculously survived. I, too, survived. The rest of my family—my brothers and sister, their spouses and four of my nieces and nephews were all killed in the bombing. Only one nephew survived. We salvaged part of the house and continued living in it for 2 months. Then Judenrein was declared and we were sent to the ghetto. My father would travel back to the house and clean up some of the bricks to sell. After a few months in the ghetto, they rounded up most of the Jews for transport to the different death camps. My parents were killed on the spot." "I ran to the woods and joined the Ukrainian Partisans called Kolpac. I hid my Jewish identity and they welcomed me because I could butcher their meat. After a year, they lost many skirmishes against the Germans and they disbanded. I escaped to another woods in Western Poland and when I heard people speaking Yiddish, I joined them and we created a Jewish Partisan Group. We would go to houses at night and ask for food. People were almost more afraid of the Partisans than of the Germans. They knew we had nothing to lose—we lived like we were dying tomorrow. We built underground bunkers, and we helped a lot of kids who escaped to the woods after their parents had been killed." "I was liberated by the Russians in March of 1944, but then I was taken into the Russian Army in their Polish division. Now I was sent to the front. Ukrainian Nazi sympathizers attacked my division and I was shot in the hand. I lost two fingers and I was taken to a hospital in Kiev. In October of 1944, I was released and sent to a rehabilitation hospital in Russian-occupied Germany. While changing trains at a train station in Skalat, a young bookkeeper by the name of Fania, who happened to be at the train station paying some company bills glanced at me and thought I looked Jewish. I have no memory of her, but a few months later I happened to be in Skalat for a day and went into the Russian bank where Fania worked and she recognized me right away. She knew that a soldier had freedom of movement, and she asked if I could help get her to the American zone. I told her that I couldn’t take her unless she was my sister, or my wife. She said "Ok, I can be your wife." I agreed and we made the arrangements. On May 15, 1945, Fanny’s cousin Rabbi Moshe Shechter performed the Jewish marriage ceremony. Our son, Martin was born February 21, 1946. We travelled throughout Germany until 1949, at one point pretending to be Greeks returning to Greece through Czechoslovakia, Hungary and finally to Hamburg. There we got papers to travel to either the US or Canada. My material uncle, Abe Raybur, guaranteed me a job in his leather factory in Winnipeg, which was a really big deal since I had lost my two fingers. We made our choice and boarded a boat to Canada. In August, 1949, we went to Toronto to see Fanny’s aunt before we travelled to Winnipeg. Her aunt went to the Jewish Congress and found out that Rabbi Kirshenbaum from London could arrange a butcher job for me. In 1950, we bought a panel truck and started J. Goose Family Clothing. Our son, Steven arrived in 1954." "Fanny and I have created a beautiful family, with two successful and creative sons, two loving daughters-in-law, two gorgeous granddaughters and a handsome grandson. All have gone on to build families of their own. We built a successful business. I remain a deeply-religious man, who put on tefilin and davened every day and made the Shul and Judaism the centre of my life. Hitler took away most of my family, he took away my freedom, and he took away what should have been the best days of my young life. But he did not take away my faith, and that is why I remained a survivor." As a survivor of the Holocaust, Jerry contributed to the Jewish act of Hashoah or Remembrance by participating in community activities that would enable his personal story to be told to help build tolerance and understanding through remembering. He was a participant in The Shoah Project, sponsored by Steven Spielberg which saw the documentation worldwide of the stories of Holocaust survivors. In 2004, Jerry and Fanny were honoured by the Jewish National Fund for their commitment to their community in London. In his last few years, Jerry was lovingly cared for by Linda, Brian, Ann, Gemma, Rachel, and the entire team of Magnolia Court at Chateau Gardens, his home for the past several years. By his side most evenings was his devoted caregiver Grace Stevens, of whom he was especially fond. There are no words to adequately describe the exemplary care and compassion this extraordinary care team provided him in recent years. The family also gratefully acknowledges Nurse Practitioner Nancy Griffith, who never gave up on Jerry, and Dr. Michael Borrie of Parkwood Hospital whose care and personal compassion gave Jerry many additional years of a life he felt blessed to have. The kindness of Dr. Yitzchak Block and Rabbi Eliezer Gurkow is also warmly acknowledged. Jerry Goose survived the worst tragedy in human history, started a new life in a new country and built a strong family legacy. Despite failing health over the last several years, he maintained a stalwart and remarkable will to live – a courage that inspired his family and friends and will be forever remembered. Arrangements by Logan Funeral Home. Funeral service Wednesday, April 4, 1:30 p.m. at Or Shalom Synagogue, 534 Huron Street, London. Rabbi Ammos Chorny officiating. Reception to follow at the Jewish Community Centre, 536 Huron Street. Shiva at 19 Harrison Crescent, home of Steven Goose, beginning Wednesday, April 4 each evening at 7:30 p.m. and continuing until Thursday. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to consider a charitable gift in celebration of Jerry’s remarkable life are encouraged to consider The Cognitive Vitality Centre at Parkwood Hospital through the St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation, 801 Commissioner Road East, London, ON N6C 5J1, in honour of the care he received. Services: Service Date Wednesday, April 4, 2012