"Sam and Leah Bikman had seven children: Abe (my father); Louis, who died in infancy in Ukraine; twins Rosie and Millie; Fannie, who died at age 4 in Lethbridge of influenza; Freda, and Billie. Rosie (Rose) is living in Billings, Montana, and Freda and Billie (Bill) live in Lethbridge.

      "Until my generation the Bikman family were 'blue collar' people; none were merchants. My grandfather Sam was a fur hat maker in Ukraine and became a tanner, a hide and fur buyer, a junk peddler, a fixer and ultimately a truck hand. His sons, Abe and Bill, became mechanics, welders, truckers, demolition and building contractors. Rose was a sales clerk for Kress and Penney's; Mollie was a secretary/bookkeeper and Freda a hairstylist. Abe, Bill and Freda went on to own their own businesses. Abe was throughout his life an active and important member of the Lethbridge Jewish Community.

      "Descendants of Sam and Leah Bikman today live in various parts of the U.S.A. and Canada. Descendants of the brothers and sisters of Sam Bikman today live in the U.S.A., Brazil, Israel, Russia and Ukraine."

      When Jack Bleviss came to Canada in 1925, he promised his wife Annie (Kirshenbaum) and his five children, Ziggy, Joe, Ida, Art and Diane, that he would bring them over as soon as he could afford the fares.

      In 1927 he kept his word; he sent the monies and they happily left Radom, Poland, and came by ship and train to Calgary. In the ensuring years the family grew by four more children: Lillian, Saul, Fran and Miriam.

      Born in 1890, Jack Bleviss was a merchant in Radom. He came to Canada as an unsponsored immigrant, and worked as a farm labourer near Taber. After his family settled in Calgary, he became a cattle dealer, traveling with a truck to buy and sell cattle throughout Southern Alberta.

      Jack Bleviss was active in many Jewish organizations, most notably the Polish Jewish Family Loan Association, of which he was a founder.

      Five of Jack's brothers and sisters, as well as his parents, also came to Calgary. They were Etta (Myer Switzer), Saul (Mary Pullman), Max (Chana Wolfe), Deena (David Cooper), and Anna (Harry Davidman). The parents Zacharia and Mindell (Switzer) Bleviss, moved to California in the 1930's.

      Annie (Chana) and Jack Bleviss raised their nine children in a large but busy house on 4th Street E. Annie took in boarders, and often fifteen to twenty persons could be found at the Bleviss dinner table.

      A brief list of the children of Jack and Annie Bleviss:

      Eldest son Julius (Ziggy) Bleviss married Sarah Rosenthal. They had four children: Bella (d.1989), Morris, Joey and Linda. Ziggy is well known as a long-time president of the Chevra Kadisha.

      Joe Bleviss married Leah Motkovitch and raised three children in Edmonton: Allan, Morley and Sharon. A businessman, he died in 1978.

      Ida married Morris Antflick and also moved to Edmonton, where Morris is a men's wear retailer. Ida and Morris Antflick have four children: Sydney, Cecille, Jerry and Renee.

      Art (Abe) Bleviss married Rita Jones; they live in Edmonton, where Art was in the furniture business.

      Dinah and her husband Morris Sobel live in Toronto, where they had four children, Marilyn, Allan, Jay and Natalie. Morris was a hotel operator and an exercise authority, and at 80 still leads fitness classes.

      Lily Bleviss married Leon Zimmerman, an insurance agent; they have a son Melvin, and a daughter, Cheryl, and still live in Calgary.

      Frances and Harvey Viner also live in Calgary, and had three sons: Leslie, Sidney and Gary (d.1969). Harvey has been a furrier, operating Renfrew Furs.

      Saul Bleviss married Marguerite Herman. Their three children are Jeffrey, Norman and Brenda; Saul has had varied business interests, including upholstery furniture and ladies wear.

      Miriam (Mim) Bleviss married Leslie Diamond, a Calgary attorney; there are three children: Sari, Tyler and Jerrold.

      Jack Bleviss died in Calgary in 1964 at the age of 72. Annie Bleviss lived to the blessed age of 97 years, passing away in 1992,

      Shimon and Dvorah Block and their five children came to Calgary from the Ukraine in 1905. Scores of their descendants continue to enrich our community.

      Anna Block married Alex Klickstein and moved to the United States, finally settling in Boston, where she raised three children, Younger brother Noah Block also moved to the U.S., to California.

      Rose Block married Abe Satinovsky, a merchant in the town of Olds, where their three daughters were born. They were Josephine, Sunderland, Thelma Belzberg and Nettie Becker. The family moved to Calgary in 1939. (Abe's nephew, Robert Sattin, lived with the Satinovsky family for many years.)

      Tilley and her husband Simon Shulman also had three daughters: Emily Finkleman, Jean Libin and Nettie Sarvos. The Shulmans ran a tailor shop in Calgary.

      Peter Block (1885-1972) married Rebecca Diamond (1895-1982), the daughter of Canmore/Calgary Jewish pioneer Philip Diamond. Peter and his in-laws ran a series of small businesses, including Central Dye Works, Central Auction Mart and the Anchor Cigar store.

      Rebecca and Peter Block had one daughter, Martha Block. In 1945 Martha married Harry Cohen.

      This excerpt from a recent Friends of the Hebrew University tribute dinner program aptly summaries Martha Cohen's contributions to our community.

      "From the new Mount Royal College (she was the first woman named to their board) to the Calgary Jewish Family Service (she was founder and first full-time social worker), to the Calgary Centre for the Performing Arts and The Old Sun College, she has always been a leader.

      "Her efforts have brought her community honours both nationally and internationally; her accomplishments as a dedicated volunteer are too extensive to list within this small program."

      Abraham Cheterener (later shortened to Chetner) arrived in Canada about 1912 from Bessarabia to join his parents, two sisters and three brothers at the Montefiore colony near Sibbald in Eastern Alberta.

      He had his own homestead and dedicated one corner of his land for use as a community synagogue. The colony was on very poor land and most Jewish farmers left the area in the 1920's, many going to California.

      Abe Chetner's exodus from the homestead was sped by a fire in which he was seriously injured. A friend, Harry Goresht, was able to drive him to Calgary for treatment. He was hospitalized for many months, but survived.

      In 1926 Abraham Chetner married Rachel Hinda Caplan (her family's name was originally Lechavitsky). Rachel had originally come to the Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, area from Shedrin, Russia, with her parents in 1923. They met while she was a clerk in Sam Hanen's grocery store on 12th Avenue E.