Toronto Star |
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Pubdate:December 18, 1999 |
Page: A27 |
Section:NEWS |
Edition:MET |
Length:567 |
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Robert Engel helped Star's Santa Claus Fund Holocaust survivor was a volunteer with a big heart |
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Byline/Source: By Alan Barnes Toronto Star |
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Photo Caption: STAR photo (Boris Spremo, CM): SANTA'S HELPER: Robert Engel organized the Boy Scouts' distribution of gift boxes for needy children from the Star's Santa Claus Fund. |
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Robert (Robbie) Engel didn't celebrate Christmas, but he was a driving force behind the success of The Toronto Star's Santa Claus Fund. A volunteer with Scouts Canada, he stepped in to help 14 years ago when the fund's distribution system broke down. He started small, organizing one troop of Boy Scouts to deliver several hundred gift boxes from a mini-depot at the Jewish Community Centre. This season - for the second year in a row - numerous Toronto scout troops are distributing 20,000 gift boxes, half the total number of boxes the fund sends to needy children in time for Christmas. "We feel that without Robbie's help, the Scout delivery program couldn't have come together," said Betty Anne Hillman, manager of the fund's warehouse. "All of Santa's elves at the warehouse love him and will miss him terribly." Mr. Engel died of cancer Thursday at North York General Hospital. The retired fashion business salesman was 76. A Holocaust survivor, he often said that the fact he was Jewish and didn't observe Christmas made no difference to him. He wanted to make children happy. "We call it a mitzvah," he said in a 1996 interview with The Star, using the Hebrew word for a good deed. "My reward is seeing the children's eyes light up." "Robbie was a truly remarkable man," said Rose Cudney, executive director of the Santa Fund, who has been calling on him for assistance since they met 14 years ago. "We'll miss his tremendous energy, his caring nature and his drive to help the less fortunate, especially children." Cudney said she would shake her head "in amazement at the man who had survived so much cruelty, yet had such a generous heart." Born in Berlin, Mr. Engel fled to Amsterdam at age 15, just before the start of World War II. He joined the Jewish underground there but was picked up by the Nazis and detained at Westerbork, the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands during the German occupation. Mr. Engel was liberated at the war's end in 1945 by Canadian soldiers. His face as a young man appears on a Canada Post stamp issued in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Nazi genocide. In 1998, he was one of 50 Holocaust survivors recognized by Parliament for their contributions to Canada. He was a chairperson of the Holocaust Remembrance Committee of the Toronto Jewish Congress. Mr. Engel was a Scouting volunteer in Canada for many years, receiving his 40-year pin in 1995, said John Plumadore, Scouts Canada's executive director for Greater Toronto. He had many roles in scouting and received several awards for his service to the movement. Mr. Engel said the Scouts learn valuable lessons about the spirit of giving by helping the Star Santa Fund. "They (learn) that they are part of the community and not all the community is as privileged as they are," he said. "Delivering the packages is a way of beginning to share with people who have less." Plumadore said Mr. Engel was "full of energy and enthusiasm. He had a great love for scouting and was tireless in that role." He leaves wife Margo; daughters Renee Jenkins and Evelyn Stieber; grandchildren Lee, Tamara and Deborah and sister Bella Eton. The funeral is at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow at Benjamin's Park Memorial Chapel, 2401 Steeles Ave. W., one light west of Dufferin St. |
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Keywords/Storytype/Column/Series |
obituary Robert Engel |
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