Don Boyaner
Don Boyaner came to Canada from Poland in 1887, landing first in Montreal and then moving to Saint John in 1892. Like many Eastern European Jewish immigrants, he came with his family to escape the pogroms taking place in the Russian Empire. The family lived first at 606 Main Street in the city’s North End and then moved to 73 High Street, a nearby side street. Don Boyaner established an optometry business in the city in 1894, first on Main Street and then he moved to 38 Dock Street before 1910. He died suddenly on October 23, 1910 after a short illness. His obituary described him as “one of the many respected Jewish residents of the city.”
Kate Poyas
He married Kate Poyas in Montreal. Her family had come to Saint John from Warsaw, Poland in the 1890s. The family group included, Etta Poyas, her daughters, Kate and Esther (Mrs. Samuel) Goldfeather, and a son, Abraham Poyas. He opened a shop on King Street where he repaired and sold watches and jewelry.
Kate Poyas was one of the founding members of the Daughters of Israel, working alongside Alice Davis Hart and her daughters. She was also a member of the Hospital Aid. She died on Saturday, October 17, 1942 at the age of 73.
The Boyaner family moved to 53 Elliot Row before 1914 and this home became the centre of life for the family.
Don and Kate Boyaner had six children, all of whom, grew up in Saint John: Louis Boyaner (1890-1973), Harry Israel Boyaner (1891-1968), Dr. Eli Boyaner (1893-1966), Dr. Frank Boyaner (1898-1945), Frances Boyaner Smith (1895-1978) and Bertie Boyaner Elman (1900-1995)
Louis Boyaner (1890-1973)
Louis Boyaner (1890-1973) was the manager of Boyaner Bros. opticians at 38 Dock Street and 111 Charlotte Street. He was a world traveler – including visits to Hollywood to visit his friend Jerry Mayer, the brother of Louis B. Mayer – and to Egypt. In travels closer to home, he had the opportunity to sail on the original Bluenose and enjoyed many summers in Pamdenec, where many Jewish families had summer cottages. He was an accomplished violinist and performed as part of the Young Judaea Orchestra and in the Saint John Opera House. He was a charter member of the Saint John Society of Music in November 1919 and the Saint John Kiwanis Club, as well as a life member of the Knights of Pythias and an honourary member of New Brunswick Lodge No. 22 of the Masons.
Harry Israel Boyaner (1891-1968)
Harry Israel Boyaner (1891-1968) was born in Montreal and died in Vancouver. Like his father and most of his brothers he was an optician and as a young man worked with them in Boyaner Bros. He enlisted in the Royal Flying Corps in Montreal on February 8, 1918 and was in uniform until the end of the year as a cadet pilot, having signed on only for the duration of the war. After the war he moved to British Columbia where he was the manager of Imperial Optical Company and Prescription Optical Company. He married Charlotte Bitterman and had two daughters – Susan and Carol.
Dr. Eli Boyaner (1893-1966)
Dr. Eli Boyaner (1893-1966) was one of the first children born in Saint John to Eastern European Jewish immigrant parents. He became one of the city’s leading optometrists and founded the New Brunswick Optometrical Society, of which he was president in 1929. In June 1950, he was elected president of the Maritime Optometrical Association. He was the first person to receive a honourary doctorate of optometry from the College of Optometry of Ontario.
Dr. Boyaner was more widely known as a Boy Scout leader with a 43–year career, starting with the Judaean Boy Scout groups, before serving as District Commissioner, Assistant Provincial Commissioner, Provincial Commissioner and President of the New Brunswick Provincial Council. He was the second Canadian named to the International Scouting Committee. As camp chief for provincial, national and international Scout jamborees, he travelled across Canada and to many other countries, including India where he had an interview with Prime Minister Nehru. In 1931, he organized the first Boy Scout Apple Day, a fundraising endeavour that continues to the present time.
Eli Boyaner was one of the founding members of the Saint John Rotary Club in 1914 and helped establish the Boys and Girls Club in 1955. He served as President of the Saint John branch of the Canadian Red Cross Society in 1944 and 1945 and was named to the Provincial Council in January 1944. In 1957, he was elected President of the New Brunswick Red Cross.
He was active in the Young Men’s Hebrew Association and was its President in 1930. He was President of the Shaarei Zedek Congregation for 8 years from 1932 to 1941. In 1959, Dr. Boyaner published “The Settlement and Development of the Saint John Jewish Community” in the Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society.
Esther Blitz (1901-1988)
He married Esther Blitz (1901-1988) on June 2, 1926. She had come to Saint John from Switzerland. She was the Provincial Chair of the Red Cross “Women’s Work” program and in charge of seventy groups of volunteers in communities around the province. These groups collected clothing and bedding for disaster relief programs and dressings for the blood transfusion services. She was the first president of the “Rotary Anns”, the women’s division of the Rotary Club. She was the president of the Saint John Hospital Aid from 1950 to 1956, the first Jewish woman to hold this role. The Women’s Hospital Auxiliary collected books for the nurses’ library at the Saint John General Hospital, purchased and distributed treats and gifts to the hospital patients and provided prizes for student nurses.
Eli and Esther Boyaner had two children, a son, Don who studied at the University of New Brunswick (with a prestigious Beaverbrook Scholarship), McGill University and became an ophthalmologist in Montreal, and a daughter, Shirley (Lipsett) who studied nursing at the Beth Israel Hospital in New York and married Herbert Lipshetz of Fredericton.
Dr. Frank Boyaner (1898-1945)
Dr. Frank Boyaner (1898-1945) established a dental practice at 22 Germain Street in the 1920s and later moved his office to 63 King Street. He had joined the Non-Permanent Active Militia and was a lieutenant in the Canadian Army Dental Corps by September 1939. He was the district dental officer for Military District #7 and dental officer for the 14th Field Ambulance, both headquartered in Saint John. In 1941, Dr. Boyaner was posted overseas on training bases in England with the 1st Canadian Fighter Squadron. Dr. Boyaner was part of an honour guard sent out to receive King George VI. The event included a Royal Air Force flypast by a Polish officer in a Hurricane aircraft. He then served with the Dental Corps in Malta, through the campaign in Sicily and spent a whole year in Italy.
Dr. Frank Boyaner
Spitfire Flyby in England for King George VI
Dr. Boyaner was the only Jewish man from Saint John to die on active service. He died of illness, on January 9, 1945, only a couple of months before he was expected to return to Saint John. He was buried in the Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey, England. His British war bride, Hazel Morris, visited Saint John after the war and stayed with the Boyaner family for almost a year.
Frances Boyaner Smith (1895-1978
Frances Boyaner Smith (1895-1978) worked briefly as a clerk for the Board of Pensions. She married Norman Smith on February 15, 1927. They moved to Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia from 1939 to 1941, where Norman was manager of the Kings Theatre. Norman enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and served as a clerk from 1941 to 1944. After he was discharged, he opened Norman’s Tobacco on King Street. They retired in 1970.
Bertie Boyaner Elman (1900-1995)
Bertie Boyaner Elman (1900-1995) was a member of the Congregation Shaarei Zedek Sisterhood, and of the Henrietta Szold Chapter Hadassah WIZO. She was an active bridge player as well as being involved in theatricals. In her earlier years she was a leader for the Judaean Girl Guides and the Young Judaean gymnastics class. She married Maurice Elman in 1929 and they had two children – a son, Dan, and a daughter Eleanor (Givner).
See also: Elman Family and Goldfeather Family
References:
Louis I. Michelson Archives and Research and Exhibition Files, Saint John Jewish Historical Museum
Marcia Koven – Weaving the Past Into the Present (Saint John: 1989 and 2008)
The Evening Times Globe / The Telegraph Journal (Saint John newspapers)
This project is made possible with funding from the Archaeology and Heritage Branch, Province of New Brunswick through their Exhibit Renewal Digital Component program and the unwavering support of the Jewish families who made Saint John their home.
