Ronnee Jaeger

Ronnee passed peacefully at Baycrest, in Toronto, March 7, 2025. Born in Winnipeg, MB, May 15, 1940, Ronnee graduated from St. John's High School ('56) and United College ('61). She married Martin Jaeger in 1962, and lived in Palo Alto, CA, before settling in Toronto, ON in 1970. After her divorce, she established life with Sam Blatt in 1975. She worked as a Social Worker at Jewish Family & Child Services from 1975-2000. Many of her clients still express their gratitude, 25 years after her retirement.

Ronnee and Sam were an amazing team, bringing up their re-constituted family and engaging in travel and human-rights activism, always maintaining a focus on Jewish and Yiddish culture in the community.

Ronnee was active in Friends of Pioneering Israel, Semillas de Esperanza, (a Guatemalan Support NGO,) New Jewish Agenda, and United Jewish People's Order (UJPO). At the invitation of Jewish Federation of Toronto, Ronnee and Sam helped found a Yiddish drama group that performed several theatre pieces over a number of years. In 1990, Ronnee and Sam took a sabbatical year to volunteer in a Guatemalan refugee camp in Chiapas, Mexico.

From 2000-2015, after both retired, Ronnee and Sam divided their time between Toronto and Jerusalem and really hit their stride. They purchased a home in the German Colony, Jerusalem. Ronnee became active in the Communist Party, both in Israel and Canada. She received the 2004 Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award for co-founding the women's group Machsom Watch (Checkpoint Watch). Machsom Watch reports continue to be cited by the United Nations.

Ronnee and Sam led three educational tours to Israel/Palestine, supported by UJPO, and an educational tour to Venezuela. The two received the 2014 Ben Shek Social Justice Award. Ronnee was the foreign correspondent in Israel for Outlook, a Canadian periodical, reporting on cultural and political events. In Toronto, she was a member of a Yiddish translation group that published two award-winning books of translations of works by Yiddish women writers. Two of her translations are included in a third publication, soon to be released by University of Toronto Press: On the Wings of Destiny: Translated Works by Lili Berger. One of her translated stories is also included in two other collections: Jewish Fiction.Net, and Jewish Stories Translated from 18 Languages.

Ronnee enjoyed dancing, the arts, gardening, reading and political life. She even combined her love of politics, the arts, and coffee shops in co-founding the Davka Cultural Coffee House in 1990. Her strong character, exceptional capacity to connect with people and tremendous energy made her a natural and charismatic leader.

Ronnee will be missed by Sam, her partner of 50 years; sons Lev (Shlomit) and Hal (Laura), stepsons Ari (Danae) and David (Tarsih), grandchildren Aviv, Noa, Zohar, Aarav, Ian; her brother Aubrey (Phyllis), sister Sara, her nieces and nephews, and a wide circle of loyal friends.

Memorial donations may be made to Machsom Watch https://www.machsomwatch.org/en/donate