Sadie Moranis, broker of record of Sadie Moranis Prudential Realty in Toronto and the first woman to become president of the Toronto Real Estate Board, died on May 21. She was 84.
Mrs. Moranis was the matriarch of a well-known family of real estate professionals that included her son Stephen and her late daughter Terry. She was also predeceased by her husband Jules.
The obituary issued by her family says Mrs. Moranis “was an accomplished pianist having studied with Boris Berlin at the Royal Conservatory, an editor of the Varsity at University of Toronto and an accomplished athlete and sportswoman who loved tennis, badminton, boating and fishing.”
In 2006, Mrs. Moranis wrote a book about her life, Catch the Gold Ring. In the January 2007 issue of REM, publisher Heino Molls wrote: “Sadie writes about her life from Sunderland, Ont., where she was born, through her career in real estate today. Sadie has had some challenges and tells you how she dealt with them. It is a candid story of her life and her business.
“This is a story about a woman who didn’t need to work when she was young and enjoyed a great lifestyle with a husband who was a successful businessman for many years. Then abruptly at the age of 37, with two young kids at home, she had to go out and find work. It’s a compelling tale of what she went through learning about a business that was not her first choice of what to do as a career or in life.
“One story that stood out for me was her recounting of an evening when she had to leave the kids in the car outside while she was inside a house working on closing a deal. She wrote of how long the evening was and how many times she dashed out of the house to check on the kids.
This story especially touched my heart. How easily we could all criticize Sadie for leaving the kids in the car. But I can tell you there isn’t a working stiff in this world with children they love desperately, who wouldn’t understand the reality of that situation and the conundrum Sadie must have been in to get that deal done.
“If I had seen Sadie on the street five minutes after I read that part of the book, I would have picked her up and hugged her.”
The family’s obituary adds: “Driven to succeed, she wanted to prove that given equal opportunities, a woman can accomplish as much as a man; she refused to let anything deter her from what she was capable of doing. Sadie grew her company from a neighbourhood broker to a large organization in Toronto.
“Sadie’s zeal for life in the face of surviving breast cancer in 1977 to her most recent health related issues can be best described when she acclaimed, ‘When you think you have problems, remember that other people may have problems greater than yours.’ ”
Funeral services will be held at Benjamin’s Park Memorial Chapel, 2401 Steeles Ave. W. at 2:30 pm on Sunday, May 24. Interment at the New Beth Tikvah Section of Pardes Shalom Cemetery. Shiva at 3 Colvestone Road following interment. Shiva visits daily from 1 pm with evening services at 7:30 pm on Monday, May 25; Tuesday, May 26; and Wednesday, May 27.
Memorial donations can be made to the Sadie Moranis Memorial Fund c/o The Benjamin Foundation, 3429 Bathurst St., Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2C3. (416) 780-0324 or www.benjamins.ca.
