Frida Morawetz honored by fete on 90th birthday
More than 150 guests assembled at the Granite Club in Toronto recently for the 90th birthday of Frida Morawetz, widow of Richard Morawetz.
Mr. and Mrs. Morawetz fled their native Czechoslovakia after its occupation by Nazi Germany and arrived in Toronto on Sept. 1, 1939, the day the Second World War broke out in Europe.
The fete was given by the Morawetz children and their spouses: Herbert Morawetz, a professor in New York, and his wife, Cathleen; Oskar Morawetz, a Canadian composer; John Peter Morawetz, vice-president of Forward Precision Tools Ltd. machine importers, and his wife Maureen; and Sonja, a writer who has just finished working with University of Toronto chancellor George Ignatieff on his autobiography. It will be published by the University of Toronto Press.
Sonja's husband is Group Captain (retired) A. Richard Sinclair, who
divides his time between going on archeological
trips in South America and managing their island off Beaumaris on Lake Muskoka.
Grandchildren present included Sonja Scandrett, a nurse at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children; Peter Morawetz, plant manager for Safety Supply
Canada; Sylvia Henderson, systems engineering representative with IBM Canada Ltd.;
Anthony Sinclair, assistant professor of engineering at the University of Toronto, and
Michael Sinclair, sales representative for William Gruber Real Estate.
Also Helen Sinclair, manager of public relations for the Canadian Bankers Association, and her cousin, Virginia Morawetz.
They are married to the Coatsworth brothers, Helen to Jamie Shier Coatsworth, a chartered accountant with Coopers & Lybrand, and Virginia to Robert Shier Coatsworth, vice-president
of Citibank Canada.
The invitation to the party was designed by another granddaughter, Kathryn Morawetz, who is an art restorer at the Odon Wagner Gallery.
On the program were two "operas" about various aspects of Frida Morawetz's life, written and set to a medley of familiar tunes by her late husband. The operas were
sung by Fraser Deacon, with Oskar Morawetz at the piano. And there was a slide show with commentary by her grandson, Michael Sinclair.
It was a black tie dinner-dance and guests included Mrs. J. Flavelle Barrett, Judge Hugh Foster, Patricia Newman and Mrs. Elie Spivak.
Also the Consul-General for Austria and Mrs. Frederick A Istle. Others with
their wives included George J. Benjamin, Nicholas Fodor, Lyman Henderson of Windborne in Woodbridge, Adam Hermant, Joseph
Kelton and Leo Lederer.
From Montreal came Lila Klumper, widow of a Czechoslovak cabinet minister from the pre-Communist regime.
From Ottawa, Laure Krupka and her sister, Alberte Sejnoha,
both widows of Czechoslovak
diplomats from before the Second World War.
There were many from the Untied [sic] States, Europe and England, including Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Langer
[ed: Lewisohn] and their three [ed: four] children from London. He is general manager of the merchant bank S. C. Warburg and Co. Ltd.
From Australia came a second cousin, Frederick Langer, with his three children.
A traditional Czechoslovak toast to Frida was sung by a grandchildren's chorus under the direction of granddaughter Claudia Morawetz, a recent U of T graduate in computer science.
Any great-grandchildren around?
Of the eight, only Justin Scandrett was old enough to be up so late.
