Obituary of Lili Pasternak

<h1>Lili Pasternak</h1> 1938 - 2008 Lili Pasternak died on March 18, on her own terms, due to complications caused by metastatic ovarian cancer. She leaves her husband, Jack; daughters, Lisa and Dahna; and sons-in-law, Martin Horn and Mike Leviten. Her pride and joy were her granddaughters Madelaine and Miranda Horn and Nina and Maya Leviten. Lili was predeceased by her mother and father, Vilma and Frank (Szusz) Martin. She is survived by her sister Mira and brother-in-law, Saul Koschitzsky. Lili was born in Brataslava, Czechoslovakia. She survived the Holocaust initially as a hidden child with her sister and later in hiding with her immediate family. Her family came to Canada in 1948 and settled in Toronto. Lili graduated from Harbord Collegiate Institute and received undergraduate and Masters degrees in science from the University of Toronto. At Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, Lili became the first Managing Editor of the scientific journal American Zoologist. Next, after having her daughters, she worked as an Instructor in the Department of Biology, University of Waterloo for almost thirty years. She also taught courses on the Biology of Aging. After retirement, compliments of Mike Harris, she lectured at the University of Waterloo and McMaster University for a couple of years. Once she retired completely, Lili devoted most of her efforts to the KW Holocaust Education Committee and especially to speaking to students at all levels and adult groups, even well after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She stressed the dangers of racial hatred using her personal experiences and the Holocaust as the example of what can happen when hatred is allowed to run rampant. Lili wanted to use this space to thank Mira and Saul for all the party sandwiches, and her brother- and sister-in law, Irv and Honey Pasternak, her cousins, her nieces and nephews and their children, close friends and acquaintances for their support and encouragement throughout her journey with cancer. Lili was especially grateful for the warmth, compassion and quality of care of CarePartners nursing team 6 – Joan, Sara, Paula, and Sandra. Dr. Natalie Kontakos was caring and incredibly effective in preventing any discomfort as each new issue arose. Lili was continually impressed with how pleasant and friendly all the technicians, nurses, anonymous doctors, community care workers, and, if she had been aware, everyone at Lisaard House were to her over the last nineteen months. Oncologists Drs. Hal Hirte (Juravinski Cancer Center, Hamilton) and Carolyn Campbell (Grand River Regional Cancer Center, Kitchener) and their nurses, Loretta in Hamilton and Maureen and Susan in Kitchener were friendly, honest and incredibly accommodating. Lili was deeply thankful for Dr. Michael Sehl who got the process started for her. She also appreciated the concerns of Drs. Gary Houslander and Robert Ghali. Neither flowers nor donations are necessary. A celebration of Lili’s life will be held at The Cedars, 543 Beechwood Dr., Waterloo, ON, N2T 2G7 at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 30, 2008. Any personal experiences, memories, stories and anecdotes are welcome.