Lutsky Family in Canada

I knew that the Lutsky family had cousins in Canada from Linda's story about her 1950s trip to Canada with Uncle Israel. She didn't remember the names or the location so I just kept my eyes open to possible clues. Silly me...I was sitting on a clue for several years and it didn't click until yesterday.

There are several Lutsky burials in the Baron de Hirsch-De la Savane Cemetery in Montreal. One of the burials is Lazar Lutsky (1898-1973) whose name also shows up on the Canadian naturalisation index that recently came online. A researcher in Montreal who had contacted me about ancestors from the town of Zwenigorodka mentioned that her parents knew a Lutsky family in Montreal and that one Lutsky was pharmacist in the 1930s.

Yesterday I was browsing through some Lutsky records looking for something about some cousins with a different surname and...holy shit!...I saw the clue that was sitting there all along. I have the US naturalization papers for both Joseph and Rifka Lutsky. These are the parents of the famous Dr. Saul Lutsky. Joseph is the brother of Zaide Solomon. On Rifka's papers, her oldest child listed was Lazar Lutsky, born 1898, living in Canada. It finally clicked...this is the same Lazar I'm seeing in Montreal. Being a pharmacist makes sense...Joseph's second oldest son was a pharmacist and youngest son Saul was a doctor. Lazar's Hebrew name is Eliezer, the same as Louis Lutsky's Hebrew name. I know Lazar and his wife Sima had a son Leo (1921-1988) but that's all I know right now. It appears that Lazar and Leo were both pharmacists.

That researcher in Montreal has helped me by ordering a copy of Lazar's Canadian naturalization papers (only Canadian residents can order them). I hope to have that copy soon. I just contacted the Jewish Genealogy Society of Montreal about 19 Lutsky/Lutzky birth, marriage, and death records in Quebec and also about making contact with living descendents of these cousins.

Yesterday I found 1940s issues of The Canadian Jewish Review online and printed off several articles from the social pages about these cousins. These simple announcements have let me confirm that they are indeed my cousins. One thing I don't know yet is if Leo & Lily had any children. I appears that Leo is the only child of Lazar so if Leo did not have any children there are no cousins to find. I guess I'll know soon enough.