The Museum expresses sincere gratitude for the legacy of Gladys Mayers |
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Published: 2024-06-10
Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, in execution of the testamentary will, informs that it has received a portion of the testamentary inheritance in the amount of 10,000 Canadian dollars (approximately 6,600 Euros). The bequest to the Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History made by the late Gladys Betsie Mayers, of Toronto, Ontario Canada, is made in honour and in the memory of her grandfather, Isaac Zackon, and her parents Isaac Gelb and Sophie Gelb, all of whom were born in Lithuania.
Gladys Mayers on her 97th birthday.
Gladys Mayers` son, Adam and daughter, Aviva told the museum: "Our grandfather, Isaac Gelb was born in 1890 in Laizuva, Lithuania near the Latvian border. He was one of eight children. He and his 5 brothers emigrated to the Union of South Africa after World War I.
He was introduced to Sophie Zackon, who was born in 1895 in Neustadt, also called Naishtot, Lithuania. She had also followed a family member to the Union of South Africa.
They married and moved to a small town in Namaqualand, a remote semi-desert-like region of the Union of South Africa near Namibia. The town they lived in was a crossroads with a store run by Isaac and a police station with one constable.
Gladys was born in 1925 and came into the world with the help of the police constable’s wife as the only doctor was 60 miles away and blind. He was delayed by a rain storm.
The family later moved to Stellenbosch, South African`s wine district, where Isaac owned liquor stores.
A photo from 1928 with: Sophie Gelb, Issac Gelb, Gladys Gelb, 3, and her brother Reynold Gelb, 4 in Namaqualand.
The family was living in Cape Town during World War II. Gladys attended the University of Cape Town and hoped to become a doctor, but changed her mind and studied psychology. In 1948, she went to Israel during The War of Independence and worked as a hospital technician.
Thereafter she moved to London where she met Dr. James Mayers. They were married in Cape Town and emigrated to Canada, raising three children. Gladys worked as a teacher during those years.
Many of Sophie and Isaac’s families who remained in Lithuania were killed by the Nazis. Isaac died in Cape Town in 1964 and Sophie died a few years later.
Gladys died in her Toronto home on May 26, 2023 at the age of 97."
1959 photo, from left: Gladys Mayers, Isaac Gelb, Sophie Gelb, daughter Aviva Mayers, 5, son Adam Mayers, 3.
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