Goodbye, Babs

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This article was published 31/07/2011 (5382 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ruth “Babs” Asper, the woman her late husband and media mogul Israel Asper once described as “the glue” that held the prominent Winnipeg family together, and whose down-to-earth grace and quiet dignity once made her a candidate for Manitoba’s lieutenant-governor, died suddenly Saturday morning.

She was 78.

A statement emailed at 11:22 a.m. Saturday on behalf of the Asper family said they were “deeply saddened to announce that their beloved mother,” had passed away at St. Boniface General Hospital.

While they’re not commenting at length now, in the past her children — David, Gail and Leonard — have spoken of their mother with great affection and reverence.

Nearly eight years ago, just before her husband of 47 years and Canwest Global Communications Corp. founder Israel (Izzy) Asper suffered a massive heart attack and died at age 71, their daughter offered this glowing tribute.

“My mom is very compassionate, very empathic,” Gail told Winnipeg Woman magazine in the fall of 2003. “She always takes care of everybody — from her family to total strangers. She is always saying, ‘If you’re going to do a job, do it right,’ which is usually in relation to my vacuuming skills. “I’m serious. She’s also got impeccable taste.”

She hates my swearing and really likes good decorum, which is why she was asked to be the lieutenant-governor a number of years ago, but she turned it down because of Dad’s career at the time. She’s adventurous. She’s also a Renaissance woman.”

Her daughter and sons were far from the only ones who admired Babs.

“She’s someone who very, very much cared about the city,” said Mayor Sam Katz, who has known the Asper family for decades. “(She) gave back more than I think most people could ever know.”

Through various social and philanthropic encounters, Katz said he had come to know Babs as the very definition of “class, integrity and generosity.”

Katz, who also attended Israel Asper’s funeral eight years ago, said he was extremely shocked to learn of Babs’ death. “It’s not a good day,” said Katz.

Yude Henteleff, Izzy Asper’s former law partner, was effusive in his praise. He had known Babs since she was in her 20s and in recent years worked with her developing the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

“She was smart,” Henteleff said, “she was thoughtful, she was giving. She was a leader. She was a perfect balance to Izzy’s flamboyance and super-charged intensity. And yet she had her own brilliance that she showed in her own way. She had that same energy, but she expended it in a quieter way.”

Henteleff said he hadn’t heard of even a hint of ill health involving his friend. On July 13, she was photographed attending the Assiniboine Park Conservancy garden party fundraiser, and she was also seen attending fringe festival plays in The Exchange district.

She was born Ruth Bernstein but she preferred Babs.

Both Babs and her future billionaire husband attended Kelvin High School, but they didn’t get together romantically until university.

According to one media account, they met for the first time at a friend’s party. Her husband was fond of saying their initial bond was their mutual love of jazz and that she was the only “girl” he knew who had a long-play record player.

Babs would earn a bachelor of arts in philosophy and English from the University of Manitoba. They married at the end of the school year in May of 1956, and Izzy graduated from law school the following year.

Late in life, Izzy credited his young wife with getting him through law school, not just by being employed when he wasn’t but because of the discipline she tried to bring to his life.

In the early 1970s, when Izzy was provincial Liberal leader, a newspaper profile reported she was active in community affairs through the National Council of Jewish Women and the Age and Opportunity Centre. In later years she continued to be active in community affairs with the Winnipeg Jewish Community Council, the Winnipeg Jewish Theatre and as the co-founder and chairwoman of The Asper Foundation.

Recipients of her philanthropic works included the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the Manitoba Opera. For many years, she also supported student scholarships to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, served on the Winnipeg Jewish Board of Education and endowed a professorship in jazz studies at the University of Manitoba.

The Winnipeg Press Club recognized her impact on the community and the foundation’s $50 million in community gifts when it presented her the President’s Award in 2007.

“She was really enjoying herself,” Henteleff said. “And fulfilling herself in so many ways.”

The Aspers were well-known musical patrons — jazz music in particular was a favourite — and three years ago, the Babs Asper Professorship in Jazz Performance was established at the University of Manitoba with a $1-million gift.

“She was a remarkable woman with an unselfish and unwavering sense of commitment to family and community,” said U of M president David Barnard. “Her legacy will live on through our students who have been given opportunities to showcase their talents to the world.”

— With file from Meghan Potkins