Community activist.
Born at Drohobycz, Poland on 17 June 1920 to Celia Wagner (1895-1985) and Solomon Weiss (1898-1954), her father was a tailor and clothing manufacturer, and her mother a secretary at a legal firm. In September 1939, her homeland was taken over by the German army and within ten days was divided into two occupied zones. She and her parents and two brothers were ghettoized and began living under Soviet control. After the ghetto’s liquidation, she and her parents were transferred to a forced labour camp, Zwangsarbeitslager, which was under the control of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and the Gestapo. The Weisses were ultimately liberated, one of the few Polish Jewish families to survive the war.
In Linz, Austria, she met Herman Kimmel (1915-1960), and in 1948, after he accompanied her and her family to Winnipeg, they were married. They both went to work as garment workers and began to build a life together, becoming involved in Winnipeg’s fur design industry. She eventually moved on to employment at the Hudson Bay store. However, her husband died young, leaving her the single mother of a daughter, and she joined her brother Philip Weiss (1922-2008) in his furniture manufacturing business in Winnipeg.
At this time, she also threw herself into a life of volunteerism, becoming active in the Women and the Arts, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and the Manitoba Association of Community Arts Councils. For 28 years, she dedicated her life to the Sarah Sommer Chai Folk Ensemble, designing and creating remarkable costumes for creative dance numbers. Her biggest satisfaction was working with young people and watching them perform on stage. They considered her their second mother.
Then in 1978, she became a founding member of the Winnipeg Associates of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). During her Presidency of eight years, she organized and worked tirelessly on projects that yielded large financial support. As a result of her dedicated leadership and vision, Avishay Braverman, President of Ben-Gurion University, personally inscribed and presented her with a special book during a BGU mission to Israel. In 1999, she received the first presentation of BGU’s 30th Anniversary Awards. In 2000, she was elected to serve on the Board of Governors and in 2006, received the Negev Award, its highest honour. She dedicated the proceeds from her tribute luncheon to establish the Erna Kimmel Computer Laboratory to benefit needy students with their research and homework.
She died at Winnipeg on 27 February 2010 and was buried in the Shaarey Zedek Cemetery. She was selected posthumously by the Nellie McLung Foundation as a Manitoba Women Trailblazer.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 27 March 2010.
Erna Kimmel, Nellie McClung Foundation.
Herman Kimmel, FindAGrave.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 29 October 2025
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