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Interview with Bill Gruenthal
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19636
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1950-2023] (interview content), interviewed 31 Jul. 2023
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 2 sound recordings (wav) (74 min., 37 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (74 min., 37 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Bill Gruenthal conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, Eric Damer on July 31 2023. 00:00:00 – 00:27:01 Bill Gruenthal provides details on his family background, his early life experiences, how he got into the insurance business,…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Subseries
- Many Voices Project Interviews subseries
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 2 sound recordings (wav) (74 min., 37 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (74 min., 37 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: Eric Damer Interviewee: Bill Gruenthal Location of Interview: Burnaby Village Museum Interview Date: July 31, 2023 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: 01:14:37 Digital master recordings (wav) were recorded onto two separate audio tracks, edited and merged together and converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Bill Gruenthal conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar, Eric Damer on July 31 2023. 00:00:00 – 00:27:01 Bill Gruenthal provides details on his family background, his early life experiences, how he got into the insurance business, his knowledge and interest in Judaism, places that he and his wife lived before moving to Burnaby, family life in Burnaby and his political involvement in running for the Burnaby school board. 00:27:02 – 00:42:50 Bill Gruenthal talks about the Burquest Jewish Community Association, it’s background and his involvement, experiences of discrimination in his career, a brief history of the Jewish people and some cultural traditions. 00:42:51 – 00:56:04 Bill Gruenthal mentions some of the charities that he supports including Burnaby Hospital, his volunteer work within the community and community organizations including the Nikkei Place Foundation and shares more details on his insurance career. 00:56:05 – 01:14:37 Bill Gruenthal shares information about his Burnaby neighbourhood and Jewish funeral customs and provides his impressions of new development at Brentwood, Burnaby Council and other development projects in Burnaby.
- History
- Interviewee biography: Bill Gruenthal was born in the British Mandate of Palestine, now Israel, in 1935 after his parents had fled Germany in advance of the then worsening political situation. Bill’s father died in 1942; some years later his mother remarried to an Irish-born senior civil servant in that government. He had a difficult and somewhat dangerous job. Soon after marriage, the family, including Bill’s older brother, Martin, immigrated to Canada in January 1947 on the strength of his step-father’s British Passport. They traveled via New York, where Bill’s uncle and his family resided and who put up the family. Later that month, the parents travelled by CP rail from Montreal to Vancouver, followed by Bill and his brother in March 1947 who travelled from New York to White Rock on an American railroad. While passing through the Fraser Valley Bill’s parents took an interest in Silverdale, a small hamlet west of Mission where the four eventually settled. Bill finished High School in Mission and soon joined the insurance industry. Bill connected with the Jewish Community in Vancouver where he met his soon-to-be wife. Upon marriage they were transferred to Calgary; after five years suffering its cold weather they were transferred back to Vancouver. They settled in Burnaby in 1966 as an affordable neighbourhood with easy access to his office downtown Vancouver. Outside work, Bill helped raise his family of three daughters who all graduated Burnaby High School (Alpha). They joined Temple Sholom in Vancouver, and he volunteered and still volunteers for a number of non-profits, including The Jewish Museum and Archives and Nikkei Place Foundation (Burnaby). He was an early long-term supporter and a past president of Burquest Jewish Community Association, mostly involving persons from Burnaby, New Westminster, and the Tri-Cities area (hence the name). He ran for political office in Burnaby in 1976 but was not elected. He delivers food in Burnaby for the Food Bank and is a donor to many worthy causes including Burnaby General Hospital. Interviewer biography: Eric Damer is a Burnaby Village Museum Interpreter, Museum Registrar, Researcher and Blacksmith. Eric pounded hot steel for the first time in 1977 in junior high. Fifteen years later, he joined Burnaby Village Museum where he has smithed for three decades. He also provides historical research for museum exhibits and special projects. Outside the museum, Eric is a social historian with a special interest in educational history.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Migration
- Persons - Jewish Canadians
- Transportation
- Transportation - Rail
- Religions - Judaism
- Cemeteries
- Organizations
- Elections
- Names
- Gruenthal, Bill
- Gruenthal, Noemi Yadlow
- O'Connor, Herta Ingrid Gruenthal
- O'Connor, John
- Burquest
- Jacobson, Max Alec
- Temple Shalom
- Brentwood Shopping Centre
- Brentwood Park School
- Alpha Secondary School
- Burnaby School Board
- Responsibility
- Damer, Eric
- Accession Code
- BV023.16.14
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1950-2023] (interview content), interviewed 31 Jul. 2023
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Planning Study Area
- Brentwood Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with Bill Gruenthal, [1950-2023] (interview content), interviewed 31 Jul. 2023
Interview with Bill Gruenthal, [1950-2023] (interview content), interviewed 31 Jul. 2023
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2023_0016_0014_003.mp3![A. MacKenzie and Company Jubilee Store, [1907 or 1908] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/1985/1985_0024_0001_001.jpg?width=280)
A. MacKenzie and Company Jubilee Store
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription159
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1907 or 1908]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 9.8 x 14.0 cm, mounted on cardboard 13.2 x 18.8 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the exterior of a store on the ground floor of a two-storey building, with a sign painted on the front face of the second floor. It reads, "A. MacKenzie & Co / Jubilee Store." There are two men in suits standing out in front of the display windows that show stacks of boxes and cans.…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 9.8 x 14.0 cm, mounted on cardboard 13.2 x 18.8 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the exterior of a store on the ground floor of a two-storey building, with a sign painted on the front face of the second floor. It reads, "A. MacKenzie & Co / Jubilee Store." There are two men in suits standing out in front of the display windows that show stacks of boxes and cans. The lot around the building looks vacant, but fenced. There is a wagon drawn by a team of two horses parked or travelling towards the store on the right side of the photograph. The store was owned by Alexander MacKenzie, (1870-1949) who arrived in Vancouver in 1907. There is a discrepancy in the date of the photograph; the accession register dates the photograph 1909 while the donation form signed by the donor dates all the photographs in the accession as 1907 or 1908. Annotations on the bottom front of the card mount read: "Ralph Libby" and "Vancouver B.C." This store later became the Matheson and Sons Market.
- Geographic Access
- Kingsway
- Nelson Avenue
- Accession Code
- BV985.24.1
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1907 or 1908]
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Marlborough Area
- Scan Resolution
- 600
- Scan Date
- 2023-12-19
- Photographer
- Libby, Ralph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
Images
![A. MacKenzie and Company Jubilee Store, [1907 or 1908] thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Images/1985/1985_0024_0001_001.jpg)
A. MacKenzie & Co. Jubilee Store
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription36151
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1908
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 14 cm, mounted on cardboard 13 x 19 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of A. MacKenzie & Co. Jubilee Store. There are two men in suits standing out in front of the store, infront of display windows that are lined with stacks of boxes and cans. The lot around the building looks vacant, but fenced. There is a wagon drawn by a team of two horses parked or trav…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1908
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 14 cm, mounted on cardboard 13 x 19 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 228-012
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS1989-22
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of A. MacKenzie & Co. Jubilee Store. There are two men in suits standing out in front of the store, infront of display windows that are lined with stacks of boxes and cans. The lot around the building looks vacant, but fenced. There is a wagon drawn by a team of two horses parked or travelling towards the store on the right. The store was owned by Alexander MacKenzie, (1870-1949) who arrived in Vancouver in 1907. This store later became the Matheson and Sons Market.
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Libby, Ralph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- 2 b&w copy negatives accompanying
- Notes on the bottom front of the card mount read: "Ralph Libby" and "Vancouver B.C."
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Central Park (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Marlborough Area
Images
