Grader Family
Rose and Joe Grader lived their whole married life in Niagara Falls. They earned their living as owners of a clothing store, Graders Ladies Wear, on Queen Street in downtown Niagara Falls. They raised 3 daughters in Niagara Falls – Thelma Grader Shore, Honey Grader Mostyn and Frances Grader Ezerzer. They were always active members of the Niagara Falls Jewish Community B’Nai Jacob Synagogue and were both buried in the Jewish Cemetery of Niagara Falls.
Rose (Goodman) Grader
Rose was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1905. She immigrated to Canada in 1908 with her parents, 1 sister Sophie Goodman and 2 brothers Percy and Cecil Goodman. They settled in Lachine, Quebec. We have no record of her father but her mother moved to Hamilton, Ontario with her children and had 2 more sons, Maurice and Alan Goodman. Her mother was an entrepreneurial, industrious woman; she owned and operated a dry goods store until she died at the age of 57. Rose became the matriarch of the family and always looked out for her siblings.
Rose attended school in Hamilton, then did office work in Hamilton until she met and married her husband, Joe Grader, who was living in Niagara Falls. They married on October 14, 1928 and she moved to Niagara Falls where she worked together with Joe in their ladies’ wear business for the rest of her life.
Rose and Joe had 3 daughters, Thelma, Nannette (Honey) and Frances:
- Thelma, born in 1929, received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. She married Victor Shore from Winnipeg in 1950. They started their married life in St. Catharines and eventually settled in Toronto. They had two daughters and two sons.
- Nannette (Honey), born in 1935, studied nursing at Toronto General Hospital and then became a public health nurse. She married Louis Mostyn from Midland and they settled in Toronto. They had 4 daughters.
- Frances, born in 1939, studied at the University of Toronto to become a Speech-Language Pathologist. She married Samy Ezerzer from Morocco and lsrael and settled in Toronto. They had one daughter.
Rose remained very close to her four brothers and 1 sister. Her brothers all served in the military during the second World War and fortunately all survived. Her brother Cecil (known as Bob) left his home in Hamilton at the young age of 15 to search for a different lifestyle. He served in the American Army during the war. He ended up in Los Angeles, California where he became an accountant and married an American girl. After the war, Rose’s brother Maurice returned from England to Canada with an English war bride and settled in St. Catharines, Ontario where he opened an automotive parts store with his brother Percy. Percy later married and stayed in St. Catharines. Her youngest brother Alan graduated from law school and opened a law practice in Welland, Ontario. He later moved to Toronto with his family when he was invited to become an Ontario Supreme Court judge. Her sister suffered from mental illness and died in Hamilton in 1954.
The family enjoyed many good times at their cottage in Crystal Beach in the 1940’s until it became too much work and they sold it. Rose was a very personable individual, always interested in getting to know people. She thrived in the retail business world, enjoyed the Jewish community social activities and loved to entertain in her home. She had leadership qualities and served as president of the Niagara Falls Synagogue Sisterhood and their Hadassah chapter. She enjoyed annual trips to New York and in her later years winter vacations in Florida. She and Joe bought a condo from blueprint plans in Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale. Unfortunately she did not get to enjoy this property due to her early death.
Rose died in September 1964 at the age of 59. She was diagnosed with a brain tumour while vacationing in Florida in 1960. She returned to Toronto for neurosurgery and unfortunately suffered a major stroke after the surgery, leaving her paralyzed on one side of her body and unable to speak for almost 5 years until her death. she was among the earliest burials in the Niagara Falls Jewish Cemetery.
Joseph (Joe) Grader
Joe was born in 1902 in the town of Shelichz, Poland, which was under Russian rule at that time. His parents both died when he was a young child. He was the second youngest of 5 children. His maternal grandfather took him and his younger sister to Zaklicoff which was under Russian rule at that time. His grandfather and wife continued to raise them. His grandfather was well educated and well connected with the Russians. He represented the Jewish residents of Zaklicoff. The Germans captured Zaklicoff in the first World War. As a result, his grandfather lost his position with the Russians and lost his source of income. He died shortly after the Germans took control.
After the first World War life in Poland became more difficult for the Jewish people. Joe was about 16 years old at that time. He left Poland with his older brother lzzy and they smuggled cigarettes to earn their way to Amsterdam where they contacted their oldest brother Hymie who had immigrated to Canada just before the start of the first World War. Their brother sent them tickets to travel to Canada. They arrived in Canada in 1919. They came to Toronto to join their brother Hymie. lzzy brought his wife Dora and a son to Canada in 1920. Then they brought their two sisters to Canada.
Joe worked as a tailor at Tip Top Tailors in Toronto. His brother lzzy moved to Welland, Ontario where he opened a ladies’ wear store. lzzy’s wife Dora had a brother, named Louis Stein. lzzy helped Joe and Louis to open a ladies’ wear store in Niagara Falls in 1923. lt was called ‘S & G Ladies Ready To Wear Milliners’.
After Louis and Joe both married, the business partnership dissolved and they each opened their own store on Queen Street in Niagara Falls.
Joe operated the new store with his wife and enjoyed life with his wife and family of three children, with his social life concentrated in the Jewish community. He spent much of his social time playing gin rummy with friends from the Jewish community and enjoyed a gin and mah jong club with his friends and their wives.
After his wife Rose died, Joe remarried Rose Goldman from Toronto in 1970. They continued with the business in Niagara Falls. After a few years, Joe retired and they moved to Toronto. They enjoyed many good years in Toronto and Florida. Joe then suffered from gradual cognitive decline and died in 1995. He was buried in the Niagara Falls Jewish Cemetery beside his first wife Rose.
