United Jewish Peoples Order

UJPO Winnipeg is grieved to announce the death of Roz Usiskin, our longtime former Chairperson, our mentor and friend, on Wednesday, November 2, 2022. Roz joined UJPO in 1945 and never stopped working to make the progressive voice in the Jewish community heard, and she did it with convincing logic, a smile, persistence, and often delicious lunches. She chaired the Board of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, and her scholarship into the Jewish left in Winnipeg has left us with a rich archive of historical material to learn from. She helped found the Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties, among other endeavours to advance human rights. She was a Yiddishist whose knowledge helped keep Yiddish alive in Winnipeg, also raising her voice in the North End Jewish Folk Choir. Roz was a magnet - everyone loved her for her intelligence, her understanding, her kindness. As well as her UJPO family, she was the matriarch of the large extended Wolodarsky-Usiskin clan. We will miss her terribly, but the example of honesty and integrity - the hallmarks of a true mentsch - are her legacy, our guide to go forward. Read tributes to Roz here.