Yosef Gurion ben Benzion v’Faygle Mindl

HYMAN, Gurion Joseph – Passed away peacefully at home on Shabbat, Dec.2, 2017, surrounded by family singing his music and retelling his favourite jokes, close to his 93rd birthday.

Gurion led a full life, filled with love and humour, and intellectual
and creative pursuits. Until the very last moment, he was madly and
deeply in love with his wife of more than 65 years, Ruth (nee Warner).
He would always say that marrying Ruthie was the best thing he ever
did.

Gurion treasured his children and grandchildren, Shayne and Leslie
Train, Belarie Hyman Zatzman and Marty Zatzman, Avi Hyman and Heidi
Shuster, Noah, Benzi, Faygle, Samahra, Ahron, Golda, Sariana, Hannah,
Samuel and Caleb. They were an absolute source of joy for him, and in
turn, he returned their love and devotion with support and never an
iota of judgement or anger. He relished every interaction,
conversation, debate, song and joke, that filled their home, often
loudly, whether over weekly shabbat dinners and lunches, or any time,
through their open door policy.

The scion of a communally-active family, Gurion was the son of Ben
Zion and Fanny Hyman (nee Konstantynowski), and a devoted son-in-law
of Samuel and Sarah Warner (Warszawski). He is affectionately
remembered by his sister-in-law, Esther Brown, cousins Suzanne Toren
and Gene Yellin, many nieces and nephews, a multitude of relatives and
friends. We also remember his other in-laws, Roslyn Savage and Sydney
Brown, of blessed memory, who were such a huge part of his life.

Gurion was born in Toronto in 1925, and lived on Spadina above his
parents’ bookstore until his marriage. He graduated from Pharmacy at
the University of Toronto just after the Second World War. For a time,
he and Ruth ran their own branch of Hyman’s Bookstore on Eglinton
Avenue, before he returned to school to pursue graduate degrees in
Linguistic Anthropology.

Gurion was a renaissance man — a linguist, artist, scientist and
translator; but his greatest joy and avocation was music, writing
everything from liturgical compositions for the Passover Haggadah and
Sabbath prayer service, to setting to music the work of several
internationally acclaimed Yiddish poets.

We are grateful to the compassionate care givers who enabled Gurion to
remain comfortably at home: Cristina, Jocelyn, Venus, Saba, Analyn,
and Maricris; and to the wonderful care and support from Drs.
Nusinowitz and Bernstein, and the visits of Norman Smith, among
others. We are especially grateful for the companionship of Dr. Harvey
Shaul, who spent many hours laughing and learning with Gurion – his
regular visits are the stuff of legend.

A fuller biography of Gurion is available from
http://gurionhyman.blogspot.ca/p/full-biography-of-gurion-hyman.html

Memorial donations may be made to Samuel and Sarah Warner fund c/o The Baycrest Foundation at 416-785-2875 or www.baycrest.org/donations, or Charity of Choice, or UJA Day School Affordability fund at 416 631-5703, jewishfoundation@ujafed.org