Donald Biderman

Don was a lovely and kind person! He adored teaching his students who he referred to as his children. Please accept our Heartfelt Condolences! May his soul rest in peace. Carol and Danny Kayfetz

On behalf of the Neptune Drive community, we extend our sincere condolences on Donald's passing. He was a long time resident, neighbour and friend to our community. May his memory be for a blessing.

It is with incredible sadness that I read about Donny’s passing . Knowing him for all my life he proved to be a loyal friend and a true mensch. My highlights for my summers at Camp Naivelt was playing and later hanging out with Donny. My condolences to all who was lucky enough to know him especially Laura and Steve

My condolences to Donny’s many friends. My memories of Donny go back over sixty years at Camp Naivelt, times that I will always cherish. A good ,wise, caring man . Rest In Peace.

He was always a dependable and devoted teacher. I was always happy to see him at our school. He will be missed by his Armour family.

My heart is so heavy for the Biderman family. Mr. B was the shining light coming into my classroom and always being there for my students. May you only know from simchas

My deepest condolences to Don’s family and friends. Don was a treasured occasional teacher at Armour Heights P.S. and admired by staff and students for his kindness and willingness to help others. May his soul Rest In Peace. Belinda Longe

Mr. Biderman was a warm and compassionate man and dedicated educator. I was fortunate enough to first meet him as a student at RJ Lang where he began and ran the Youth centre night - a haven for so many adolescents on Friday nights. I was later lucky enough to work alongside him as a teacher. The Armour Heights staff have long admired and appreciated Mr. Biderman for his professionalism and support. He will always be a part of the Armour Heights Family. My condolences to his family and all of the students, teachers, and others he has touched. Rest in peace my friend. Terry Nitsou

I taught with Don at RJ Lang. I was a young teacher and he was a kind and devoted role model for the staff and students...his warmth and humour were felt by all. And years later, Again... I had the good fortune to work with Don at Summit Hts - at this point he was a retired teacher - always happily and eagerly stepping into any and every supply job that was asked. A kind and sweet gentleman. Mr. Biderman will be missed by so many.

My condolences to the Biderman family. Don was an amazing man who will be remembered and missed by so many people. I always loved our great conversations when he supply taught at Armour Heights. May he rest in peace.

It is with deep sympathy that we express our condolences over the loss of Don. He had such a positive impact on the lives of so many children. Don's passion for teaching children will remain one of his enduring legacies. Our hearts are with you as you mourn his passing. We know Don did make the world a better place.

My sincerest and deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Biderman. The students, staff and school community of Summit Heights Public School will truly miss Mr. Biderman's kind soul, gentle nature, positive outlook and caring personality as he was a regular occasional teacher at our school. We will truly miss him and his smile. We hope that fond memories and the sharing of kind thoughts will bring strength his family and friends.

My sincere condolences to Don's family and friends. I loved having him cover for me in my classroom. My class loved having him in the room. He was a kind and gentle soul, and always had a smile on his face. He will be dearly missed!

My deepest condolences go out to Don’s family and friends. He was such a kind man, always accommodating, and he always made a point of connecting with the students. He would stroll into the Library to pick out his favourite books to read for the class he was teaching that day (usually Chris Van Allsburh) and we would chat about music, books, and the Armenian Genocide and Holocaust. He supplied for my classes for over 20 years, with grace and humour. The Summit Heights staff, students, and community will miss him dearly, I know I will. ? May he Rest In Peace.

I am saddened to learn of Don’s passing. I will miss his wonderful sense of humour and warm smile. His love for teaching was evident to all who knew him. Don’s experience and calm demeanor made him our go-to, especially on short notice. A donation has been made to the Daily Food Bank on behalf of the staff of Armour Heights Public School. We will all miss Mr. Biderman.

Our deepest condolences on the passing of Don Biderman. We remember him fondly from various family functions and birthday celebrations. May his memory be a blessing. Alicia and Todd Yetman.

Because Don was family to my aunt and uncle, Steve and Laura, I always thought of him like a third uncle. I had known Don since I was born and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to know him in my adulthood. He was knowledgeable, yet humble, passionate in his beliefs and always sincere. I will very much miss his presence at the Liebgott’s.

Not only I will truly miss seeing Don's smile but so will he children he taught. He was a kind loving sole. Forever remembered, Forever missed.

My kids were always so happy to have Mr. Biderman as their supply teacher. My condolences to his family.

Mr. Biderman was one of my teachers when I attended Rockford Road Public School, from 1967 to 1974. He was one of the nicest teachers I had ever known. One day, many years later I saw him in the Summit Heights Public School parking lot, on the way to substitute for a class. I approached him and said hello, and he immediately recognized me and we chatted about how my KIDS were now attending Summit! I realized how lucky my kids were to have had the opportunity to be taught by him. My condolences to the entire family.

To Mr. B's family. I am at parent at Summit Heights. Mr. B was a permanent fixture at Summit Heights. He wasn't a typical occasional teacher. He felt like part of the staff. He knew the kids and they knew him well. I posted the sad news on the neighbourhood Facebook page and many have shared their fondness for Mr.B. He will be missed by our community.

Mr. Biderman made the world a better place. He touched my life in so many ways. I have thought of him often over the years. He was an incredible human who gave me shelter from the storm of my young teenage life, who sharpened my moral compass, who enriched my knowledge of music and theatre, who taught me to drive, and who introduced me to his good friends Steve and Laura - also incredibly beautiful and kind humans. Laura taught me how to frost cakes! Gosh what warm memories. Rest In Peace Mr. Biderman.

Just over a year since my best friend passed away. I thought I would post his eulogy. When anyone would ask how long we had known one another, we always told people that we met as fetuses. Our moms were members of the Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. Maybe that’s how our shared love of music began. One difference… when my mom went home after choir practice, Mary Biderman stayed for the opera. Don loved opera. He was such a maven that he wrote theme-based questions for the opera quizes for CBC as well as for the New York Met. He said he preferred the New York Met because they sent him better prizes. During one of the CBC opera quizes using a topic that Don had sent in, one of the panel members complained, “I don’t like this week’s questions. These are really tough. Don was raised in a home immersed in music. His summers were spent at the family cottage on Hill Three at Camp Naivelt near Brampton. Here, he enjoyed the likes of The Travellers, Pete Seeger, a very young Ian Tyson and Sylvia Fricker among many others. Naivelt was also a treasure trove in making many lifelong friendships. Besides his music, Don loved sports. His main passion - the CFL and the Toronto Argos. On one occasion, he left a message with the Argo office complaining about poor camera coverage during a game. He got a call back from Michael “Pinball” Clemons to discuss the issue. Above all else, Don was a devoted teacher. Even after retirement, when supply teachers are limited in the number of days they may teach per month, Don would phone the pension board to hold off pension payments for days he wanted to teach. While on staff at R J Lange, Don spent over twenty years of his Friday evenings organizing and running the youth centre. Often Laura and I would volunteer to help supervise or hand out pizza. Students will always remember the last song before youth centre ended each week- Stairway to Heaven. After youth centre cleanup, Don would take his volunteer kids out for burgers and make sure each one of the Biderman Crew got safely home. Donny you were my best friend. I will miss discussing the world with you. I will miss your sense of humour and your quick wit. I will miss you at your usual spot at our dinner table. During holidays, birthdays and other other special family get togethers or celebrations, you were always one of “the usual suspects”. Donny, I love you, I miss you and your voice is in my head.

I'm so sorry I didn't know of Donny's passing. I knew him as a Camp Naivelt friend. Those summers were so magical for us kids. While Donny was a generation older than me, he never used his age, or maturity as a barrier to being a friend. As I grew to know him as that more mature adult, the true nature of his goodness and pedagogic ability was outstanding. Donny was a very kind, giving human that we'll all miss.