Educator, community activist.
Born in Austria-Hungary on 10 January 1903, daughter of Rissel Chai and Aaron Cherashny , she attended Winnipeg’s King Edward School and St. John’s High School, and was one of the first students to register in the I. L. Peretz School. During this time, she Anglicized her surname to Cherry. She graduated from Normal School in 1922 and taught in rural Manitoba, including at Ladywood School (1920-1921), Pine Ridge School (1925), and Donald School (1926-1931; Principal 1927-1931). She was a “communal volunteer” and an active member in many of the Winnipeg Jewish community’s charitable, social and educational organizations. In 1946 she became President of the Women’s Division of the Jewish Welfare Fund (UJA), and was the incumbent President when Israel was declared statehood in 1948. Her individual efforts were instrumental in assisting thousands of Jewish children orphaned during the Holocaust to immigrate to Israel. She received many citations and was a guest speaker for organizations in Canada, United States, and Israel. On 16 May 1930, she married Bernard Shibou (c1900-1984) at Winnipeg. She died at Winnipeg on 6 August 2002.
Marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Obituary [Bernard Shibou], Winnipeg Free Press, 18 August 1984, page 39.
Obituary [Bessie Rose Guberman], Winnipeg Free Press, 15 December 1996, page B11.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 August 2002.
“They will never be forgotten” by Kevin Rollason, Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 2002, page A8.
This page was prepared by Ian Stewart and Nathan Kramer.
Page revised: 26 October 2019
Memorable Manitobans
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