Wolfe

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WOLFE

WOLFE , Canadian family. ray d. wolfe (1917–1990), entrepreneur and philanthropist, and rose senderowitz wolfe (1919– ), social worker, community leader, fundraiser, and philanthropist, were both born into eastern European immigrant working-class families in Toronto. They married in 1940 after Rose graduated with a degree in social work and Ray with a degree in arts from the University of Toronto.

Ray, who had failed his university courses in finance and commerce, masterminded the growth of a small family produce wholesaler into the Oshawa Group – one of Canada's largest food-drug-department store businesses. After serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943–46, Ray returned to his floundering family business and as chairman and ceo built it into a major Canadian corporation. He established a personal reputation for business acumen, honesty, and philanthropy. He was appointed to the boards of large Canadian corporations, becoming the first Jew to sit on the boards of Canadian Pacific Limited and the Bank of Nova Scotia. He was very active in the Jewish community, serving on the boards of the Canadian Friends of Haifa University, Canada-Israel Institute for Industrial Research and Development, and the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews. He was chair of the United Jewish Welfare Fund, a governor of Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, and founding publisher and chair of the weekly Canadian Jewish News. The Ray D. Wolfe Fellowship, which supports advanced research in Jewish studies at the University of Toronto, was established in his memory by the Canadian Jewish News. In 1980 Ray was awarded the Order of Canada.

In 2000, the Rose and Ray Wolfe Chair in Holocaust Studies was established at the University of Toronto. The chair was created by Rose and reflected her long association with the university and her devotion to social welfare and human rights issues. Rose's early social work career with Toronto's Jewish Family and Child Service placed her with Jewish youngsters who had survived the Holocaust and entered Canada as orphans in 1947–48. This professional work led Rose to a career as a volunteer which focused on education, social justice, and community relations. She was active in more than 20 social, cultural, and educational organizations. From 1983 to 1991, while an officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress (Ontario), Rose served as chair of the Joint Community Relations committee devoted to improving Jewish relations with other ethnic groups, the media, and government. She was also a member of the board of the Banting Research Institute, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, and the Pearson College of the Pacific. Among her affiliations, Rose was a director of Mount Sinai Hospital, where the family established the Ray D. Wolfe Department of Family Medicine.

Rose's many positions included the presidency of the Jewish Family and Child Service in Toronto, the Women's Division of the uja, and the Federation of Jewish Women's Organizations. She became the first female president of the Toronto Jewish Congress (later the uja Federation of Greater Toronto), responsible for all Jewish social agencies and educational institutions, and in 1991–97 she served as the first Jewish chancellor of the University of Toronto, where she had long been a key fundraiser. She was honored with an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University in 1998, the Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews in 1985, and the 1980 Jewish National Fund's Negev Dinner. Rose Wolfe was awarded the Order of Ontario in 1982 and the Order of Canada in 1999.