SHARON GAIL POLLACK

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SHARON GAIL POLLACK Sharon passed away on February 29, 2012, just a few months after the loss of her mother Myrna Mitchell, leaving four generations extraordinarily proud of her in their mourning: her father Myer Mitchell, husband Rocky Pollack and sister Faith Cristall; her children Lisa Pollack and Andy Furman and Hart Pollack and Nancy Chappell-Pollack; her grandsons Mitchell and Shane and granddaughters Talia and Noah. Sharon had genuine North End credentials- she was brought up on Inkster Blvd., had a bat mitzvah at Rosh Pina and was in Bat Sheva BBG. She became an elementary school teacher after her University of Manitoba graduation in 1970 and, in 1971, married Rocky and supported him as he completed law school. After eight years, children became her priority so that career paused for a while. Community service did not- she was a Hadassah president, a Tennis Manitoba board member, a school visitor for the Alzheimer Society as well as a volunteer for her children's schools and her synagogue. Sharon was the consummate tennis mom, signing her kids up for tournaments or helping them with scholarship applications, driving them to matches or flying with them to tournaments and always being there to cheer every point and to share the agony of a loss. Sharon was a steadfast supporter of Rocky's community and bar association undertakings, whether it meant traveling to exotic places like Moose Jaw or attending obligatory but not-always-exciting social functions. She taught again during her children's high school years but, in the fall of 1997, a diagnosis of breast cancer and the need for almost a year of chemotherapy and radiation treatment set teaching aside. Then something interesting happened. Sharon didn't just fight the metastatic cancer in her own body- she took on cancer at large. She became a volunteer - in the library for the CancerCare Manitoba (CCMB) researchers, in the Look Good Feel Better program in which she was once a registrant and on the Guardian Angel Benefit committee. Then she found a new profession- she was the first coordinator of the Guardian Angel Caring Room and manager of the Look Good Feel Better program in a region that took her from Saskatchewan to Thunder Bay. She mobilized hundreds of volunteers for those programs and educated health professionals about them. In this way she enabled women to learn what she had learned that cancer treatment's appearance-related side effects can be handled and that those new experiences that come with being a cancer patient don't always have to be frightening. For over fourteen years Sharon had the benefit of the vast experience and uncanny instincts of Dr. Lorne Brandes. As the need arose, her care included an array of CCMB physicians, nurses and staff who are without peers in the cancer care world. She developed a cool confidence that enabled her to maintain her work and travel schedule until very recently. She was able to attend to her parents' increasing needs, whether to take them shopping, to see a doctor or to be at their side in hospital. Notwithstanding the role of medicine in her life with cancer, it was the arrival of Mitch, then Shane and, last year, Noah and Talia that really energized her and lifted her from pain and fatigue. She was a superb Bobba, whether babysitting, baking or bragging. Her presence in her grandchildren's lives exuded love and dispensed wisdom. And all along, of course, they were taking care of her. Sharon was frequently in the media explaining her programs and she has written about her own cancer journey for a national magazine. In 2010 she received her Applauding Values pin - a CCMB staff recognition award. Last fall she was honoured with the Award of Distinction at the Guardian Angel Benefit for Women's Cancer, an event that she has supported with passion since its inception. While these were all achievements, one other was uppermost in her mind: to celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary in Palm Springs with her family. It happened in November, just as she had dreamt about it: spending all day each day with her children and grandchildren under the same roof and the same sunshine. During her last three weeks, at Riverview Health Centre, she talked about that time and again and it is certain that she is still dreaming about it. Sharon's meditation mentor, Rabbi Alan Green, officiated at her funeral on March 2, accompanied by Cantor Anibal Mass at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. Her best friends Sharon Gaber, Terri Mowchun, Dena Perlov, Marcy Schwartz, Ros-Lynn Calof and Caprice Douglas carried her to her rest, assisted by Murray Knazan, Larry Saifer and Myron Calof. Honorary pallbearers were Dr. Jill Taylor-Brown and Robie Wayne. In December, Sharon established The Sharon and Rocky Pollack Guardian Angel Caring Room Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba. Its annual income will be dedicated to enhancing the programs that Sharon initiated at CCMB. (www.jewishfoundation.org )
Publish Date: Mar 7, 2012

SHARON GAIL POLLACK Peacefully at Riverview Health Centre on February 29, 2012, Sharon Pollack, beloved wife of Rocky, mother of Lisa and Andy Furman and Hart and Nancy Pollack, sister to Faith Cristall and daughter of Myer Mitchell, passed away. Funeral service will be held at Shaarey Zedek Synagogue at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, March 2 followed by interment at Shaarey Zedek Cemetery. A longer obituary will follow, including details of the Sharon and Rocky Pollack Guardian Angel Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.
Publish Date: Mar 1, 2012

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Mar 01, 2012