Interview with Ted Metrick

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Held by

Ottawa Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)

Dates

July 28, 1987 (indexed as 1987)

Level

item

Scope & content

Duration: TAPE 1: 17:39 TAPE 2: 22:17 Tape 1 *audio skips for the first few seconds* Ted was born April 8, 1914 at the Rideau St. hospital in Ottawa. He lived on Nelson St, near Murray St. Ted’s great-great-grandfather was the registrar of births in Minsk, Russia, and a birth certificate in Russia is a metricka[?], and his profession led to him being called Metricka, and eventually Metrick. Ted’s mother was Anna Pullan. She had 5 boys, one of whom died at 3 years of age. Elias Pullan was Anna’s uncle, who lived in Ottawa and then settled in Toronto, and was in the waste paper business. He had 10 children. Elias Pullan was active in the Jewish community, but that was before Ted’s time. Ted recalls Anna was an excellent cook. Ted recalls some of the people he went to cheder; the Lieff boys, the Benwick[?] twins, Julia Lewis[?], Arnold & Sydney Katz, Norman and Bert Loeb. Ted remembers Rabbi S[?], Rabbi Lieff, Rabbi Greenberg and others. Ted enjoyed cheder. He went after school and he recalls sneaking in snacks. Ted had a unique Bar Mitzvah. It was 6 am on a Saturday at the King Edward Synagogue because Pesach was at 9. Ted’s father had a clothing store on William St, at the corner of George and William. His father later had stores in Hull and on Rideau St, and he ended up with his final store in the Market. His father was born in Minsk, Russia. His mother was born in Tels, Lithuania. His paternal grandparents were born in Minsk, Russia. His maternal grandparents were born in Lithuania. His maternal grandfather had a grocery store in Ottawa on Wellington St. It was eventually taken over by the Mirksy’s who had a bottling plant at that location. His paternal grandfather was not a businessman but was more of a scholar. Ted recalls always wanting to help the underdog. During the depression in 1929, he heard his parents discussing people who were losing their houses and their businesses. Ted remembers feeling like he wanted to help these people save their homes and businesses. However there was an unfortunate murder case in the Jewish community. Ted knew Moses Doctor, the defence council, whom Ted admired, and he followed the case closely. He was determined after that to become a lawyer to help people in criminal cases. Ted was one of the youngest graduates in the 1937 class at Osgoode Hall in Toronto. He came back to Ottawa in 1937 and tried to open an office, but things were so bad as there was no money and few opportunities. He eventually went to work for Mackelwrathe&Mackelwrathe [?] who were an established firm in the city for $10 a week. He worked for them for only a couple months, as they did not have proper accommodations for him, and he struck out on his own and began practicing in an office occupied by Harry Sigler for $25 a month. *Trigger warning- description of an infanticide case* Ted recalls a notable case. It was a murder case where Ted defended a woman who was accused of murdering her child. Ted succeeded in convincing the jury there was no malintent. Ted also recalls defending a young girl who was accused of arson in Lowertown, and he was winning until the last day of the trial when the girl confessed to the judge out of guilt. She was sent to school in Toronto and later became a successful stenographer with the Ontario Legislature. Ted built his practice in general law, but as his practice grew he had to give up the criminal end of it, so now his practice is mostly commercial, corporate law, and estates. Ted recalls some pillars of the Jewish community including: Archibald J. Freiman, a powerful philanthropist. Moses Loeb, Morris Zegerman, Simon Writ[?] Lawrence Freeman, Gillie Greenberg, Norman Zegerman Ted is active in the Jewish community. He was president of the Young Judean group, then he was President at B’nai Brith, President at Beth Shalom synagogue. He was also one of the few Jewish presidents of the county of Carleton Bar Association. He was also president of the Hillel Lodge. *audio ends mid sentence* 17:39 Tape 2 The interviewer asks about anti-semitic policies surrounding a quota for Jewish students in university, and Jewish doctors having difficulty finding jobs. Ted confirms that the story about McGill’s quota practices is true, and the stories about Jewish doctors having trouble practicing in hospitals in Toronto and Montreal is also true. Ted remarks however that he personally and within his circle noticed little anti-semitism in Ottawa growing up. Ted references an event at Ottawa University that was anti-semitic, but he does not recall the specifics, although Mr. A.J. Freiman was involved in trying to dispel it. Ted had been involved with the adult education, and has attended breakfast clubs hosted by the Beth Shalom Synagogue, but unfortunately he has not had the time to do his part. Ted speaks Yiddish. He didn’t speak it at home, but he recalls during his time at Osgoode Hall, he used to hang out with Jewish boys attending law, medical, or dental school in Toronto, and they would speak Yiddish to each other. Ted belonged to King Edward Shul and later Beth Shalom Shul, and eventually occupied various offices there before he became president. Ted received the King Edward Shul Seal when the 2 shuls amalgamated to keep with the other records. He has since given it to the Heritage Society. Ted has not been to Israel, but has always wanted to go. Ted recalls being in school and hearing about mass killings in Germany leading up to World War II. He and his friends and family couldn’t believe it until it became reality. Ted recalls being disappointed with the International conference when leading powers refused to allow Jews prior to the war. Interviewer asks about how Jewish communal life has moved further into the suburbs and away from the community center which was once a hub. Ted recalls that the Jewish community used to be close knit. Ted is married to Claire Wyneberg, she was born in Lowertown in Ottawa. They met at a sweet 16 party. Ted recalls being a shy young man, and for a few years he couldn’t find her because of the spelling of her name, and he was too shy to ask others where she was and who she was. He eventually ran into her at another party. They celebrated 45 years of marriage on July 26, 1987. Claire and Ted have 1 daughter, Paula Fresh[?], who is married to a lawyer and lives in North Toronto. Paula has 2 children, Dana and Joanne. Claire and Ted were married in Cantor Ravin’s[?] living room on Charlotte St in Ottawa on a hot Sunday afternoon. It was a very private wedding. After the wedding they went back to Claire’s apartment and there was a celebration. The next day they left for Toronto and Niagara falls on their honeymoon. The interviewer states that statistically in Ottawa and across the country, there has been a significant decrease in Jewish participation in Jewish community with the exception of the 7 days war. Audio ends 22:17

Location

Nelson St · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “Nelson St”
Murray St · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “Murray St.”
William St · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “William St”
Wellington St · street · confidence 50% · street · found as “Wellington St.”

Nelson StCorrect the location Nearby on the big map

More details

Genre / form: sound recording
Format: Audio
Harvested: 2026-10-17T20:12:50Z · source datestamp n/a · cjhn

Original metadata

As harvested (cjhn)