Date of Death: May 10, 2018
Funeral will take place May 13, 2018 at 2:00 pm at The United Hebrew Memorial Chapel, 28 Ewen Road, Hamilton.
Cemetery: Temple Anshe Sholom, 427 Limeridge Road East, Hamilton
Shiva will take place at 11 Spruceside Ave., Hamilton from Sunday, May 13th to Thursday May 17th from 3:30 p.m. – 7 p.m swith Shiva Minyan service at 7:00 pm each night.
GREENSPAN, Louis Professor Louis Greenspan died at his home with his family by his side on the afternoon of Thursday, May 10, 2018. He was 83 years old. Louis was a man loved by all. He will be especially missed by his wife Sheila, his children Anna and Jeremy, his grandchildren Max and Zoe, as well as his sisters Zelda Modolfsky and Marilyn Veidlinger and by the Greenspan, Veidlinger, Modolfsky and Wolfson clans. Louis came to McMaster University in 1967 and continued to teach until last year. He was especially proud to be amongst the founders of the Department of Religious Studies and the Arts and Sciences program. He also served as Director of the Bertrand Russell Archives and spoke and published widely. He was an esteemed teacher and colleague and a cherished friend. His deep love of learning and appreciation of culture and the world around him remained with him until his final moments. We are grateful for the superb palliative care that he received from Dr. Kati Ivanyi, Dr. Erin Gallagher, Deirde Byrne and her team at Bayshore Nursing as well as the amazing PSWs from St. Elizabeth who made it possible for him to retain his characteristic good cheer until the end and who critically assisted us in giving him a good death. Louis died as he lived, with wisdom, great dignity, profound humor and a deep love of life. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. at the United Hebrew Memorial Chapel of Hamilton, 28 Ewen Rd., with a burial at the Temple Anshe Sholom Cemetery at 427 Limeridge Rd. East. The shiva will take place at 11 Spruceside Ave., Hamilton from Sunday to Thursday 3:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Any charitable donations in Louis’ name may be made to Canadian Civil Liberties Association or Peace Now.
Zelda, I am so sorry for the loss of your brother. I know from my sister what a wonderful person he was. May you and the family go from strength to strength and his memory be for a blessing. Debbie Sherman
My condolences to the Greenspan family. I have many great memories of Prof Greenspan, his kindness, his generosity, his humour. Wonderful teacher!
My deepest condolences on your loss. I had the privilege of knowing Louis over 15 years through my work and his involvement at CCLA. I had the privilege of seeing him at Board meetings and at our education conference, and knew him to be brilliant and witty, an extraordinary thinker and teacher. Alan Borovoy (my late mentor) would often say the same, and spoke so highly of Louis – and with such fondness.
Howard and Nancy Adelman
Louis was a dear friend and colleague. We had dozens of lunches together and for years traveled to Israel together each year. He combined wit and humanity, intelligence and insight when he offered his editorials on Israel Today. Our condolences!
My condolences to the family. I studied under Louis at McMaster in the ealry 1990’s for my M.A. in Religious Studies. A wonderful person.
Dear Sheila
It has been many years since we were last in touch with you and Louis, but we have many fond memories of those years and your greater family. Needless to say, we were saddened to learn of your loss. To this day, we remember Louis’ effervescent and contagious personality. He will be sorely missed by all those who he touched.
Our thoughts are with you.
Judi and Mickey Cohen
Louis was an utter delight. I have rarely come across someone with his knowledge of books and films, sound critical sense and wit. McMaster was truly blessed to have him on their Faculty and his students really fortunate. Louis was a gem of a man and I was lucky to have known him
My most sincere sympathies to all Louis’ family and friends. I remember so very fondly working with him as a teaching assistant while I completed my doctoral studies at McMaster and doing a reading course with him. We had a great deal: for every book I chose, he got to choose one too. I made him read a lot of Derrida, he made me read a lot of Marx, and then we talked for hours! It was a wonderful experience and I will always remember him with admiration and gratitude.
Dr. Greenspan was a light! He was generous, kind, thoughtful, and an absolute delight to be around. My favourite memories from Mac are of Dr. Greenspan and the time I spent as TA. He taught us all every moment, and we are all better for it. Please accept my deepest sympathies on your loss.