TORONTO — Dov Altman often referred to himself as “the luckiest person in the world,” his wife, Elana Fleischmann, said.

Altman died Feb. 25 at Toronto General Hospital at age 55. He had suffered from chronic lung rejection following a double lung transplant, which he underwent due to suffering from pulmonary fibrosis. 

For the past 13 years, Altman was executive vice-president of the Canadian Friends of Bar-Ilan University, which raises funds for, and connects Canadians to, the Israeli university.

Deeply passionate about Israel and the Jewish community, at age 41, he left a successful career in commercial property leasing to pursue a path he found more meaningful. 

Already actively involved in the community as a lay leader – he was chair of canvasser training and motivation for UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s 2002 campaign and served on the boards of Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation and Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation – Altman felt compelled to contribute in a full-time capacity.

“After 9/11, Dov said to me that he just couldn’t continue doing commercial leasing,” Fleischmann said. “He wasn’t passionate about it.”

Altman accepted the position at Canadian Friends of Bar-Ilan, which Fleischmann said reflected his feeling that quality education is critical to Israel’s future.

“He said he felt he was the luckiest person to have that job,” she said. “It meant he was able to visit Israel, and nothing made him happier than that.”

Gillian Sinclair, current executive director of the Canadian Friends of Bar-Ilan University, said, “Dov had a strong passion for his work… His greatest joy was being able to talk to people about Bar-Ilan and its contribution to the State of Israel.”

Altman’s devotion to the Jewish community began at a young age. Born in Toronto, the youngest of four children, Altman attended William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute and, at 15, became a chapter president of B’nai Brith Youth Organization (BBYO). 

When Altman was 17 and Fleischmann – who was president of her local BBYO chapter in Ottawa – was 16, they met at a Toronto BBYO weekend called the “Beau Ball.”

After a logistical mixup caused the Ottawa chapter to miss an event, she and Altman had a “huge fight.”

“I yelled at him, and the next week, I wrote him a letter apologizing,” she explained. “The rest is history.”

The couple married in 1987.

Altman earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from York University and got his first job doing property management with the Toronto Harbour Commission. He subsequently did commercial leasing for companies such as Royal LePage and Cadillac Fairview. 

Altman was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis about nine years ago, but he didn’t experience symptoms until 2011. In 2013, he was placed on a lung transplant list, and, though he received a transplant that September, six months later, his health seriously declined.

 Even while sick, Fleischmann said, Altman maintained a positive disposition.

“He was always joking, always asking how everyone else was,” she said. “He made it his business to find out what all of his nurses names were, his caretakers.”

After he passed away,  the head of the hospital transplant team wrote her to say that the hospital staff “cared so much about Dov.”

Altman’s warmth, kindness and generosity were reflected in the way his friends and neighbours rallied around the family, who are longtime members of Adath Israel Congregation, during Altman’s sickness, and in the outpouring of responses to his death.

“There were over 1,000 people at his funeral” Fleischmann said, “Over 500 at the shivah.”

She emphasized that Altman’s impact on others has been immensely comforting.

“I can’t tell you the legacy he left behind. It’s not always about how successful you are, but about being a mensch, and the reputation you leave in the world. And boy did Dov leave a legacy of being a mensch.”

In addition to his wife, Altman leaves two children, Neal and Jillian.