TORONTO — Samuel Norton (Sonny) Tomkin, one of South Africa’s most distinguished architects, celebrates his 100th birthday today.

Tomkin was interviewed by The Canadian Jewish News at his residence
in the Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue area in Toronto, where he
lives with his daughter and son-in-law.

Behind him, on the wall
of his living room, are framed certificates and awards for his
architectural accomplishments and his services to the city of Durban
government.

His daughter Janet Hellmann, a psychotherapist, joked about her father’s longevity. “It is his discipline,” she says. “Among which is his whisky, but not before 6 p.m.” She adds, “But my father doesn’t take any medications.”

Tomkin’s parents emigrated to England before the turn of the century, leaving Minsk, then under Russian rule, to escape pogroms. Tomkin was born in London in 1908. When Tomkin was six, his father went to South Africa to buy cattle for export to England.

To escape the bombings in London during World War I, his mother took Tomkin and her two daughters to Worthing, a holiday resort area.

There were no Jewish people in Worthing, he says, and he didn’t have the opportunity to learn Hebrew there.

“One day, when I was six years old, my teacher asked me to go outside and shake out the chalk dust cloth and I saw the first Zeppelin.”

In 1919, his mother and the three children journeyed to South Africa on a boat that carried mail, the only way to travel between England and South Africa in those days, to join Tomkin’s father, who had established a successful business.

“I practically had no education until I got to Pretoria,” he says. “Being surrounded by females for some time, my father wanted me to go to a boys’ boarding school, but boarding schools would not accept Jews.”

In the government schools, “anti-Semitism was alive and well, and I was being knocked about. My father taught me to box, and after my first encounter, nobody hassled me again,” Tomkin remembers.

At 13, he was sent to a Catholic boarding school. It took him two days and a night of travelling to get there from home, and he went home only twice a year. After high school, he wanted to continue his education.

He didn’t knowing what career path to follow, but his life took shape when he attended Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. There he met Nathan Finkelstein, who was going into the architecture program, and Tomkin also decided to study architecture.

“There were five of us in the class, and after five years, I received what today is a master’s of architecture. With Nathan and another former architectural student, we opened a practice in Johannesburg,” Tomkin says.

“Architects weren’t used much in those days, and when my partner Nathan died, I realized that there wasn’t enough work for the practice, so I moved to Durban, where my sister had a summer place. I opened my own practice in her home.”

The Durban Jewish Club was the only country club in the city that accepted Jews. It was at the club that he joined an amateur theatre group, through which he met and later married Rita Barnard. He became an avid polo player, winning eight championships in competition.

Tomkin’s career flourished as he moved from designing homes to working on large contracts for universities, hospitals, government and synagogues, including Durban’s Great Synagogue.

Along with his successful career, Tomkin distinguished himself as a volunteer for his work as an honorary consultant to the city of  Durban.

Tragedy struck his family when his son, Neil, was wounded in a random shooting at the age of 21. Neil’s girlfriend was killed. Neil, who is disabled, still lives in Durban with his wife.

Tomkin’s daughter, Janet, and her husband, Jonathan Hellmann, a pediatric/neonatal doctor at the Hospital for Sick Children, moved to Toronto 26 years ago.

 Tomkin and his wife visited Toronto frequently, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to make the city his home. His wife, Rita, convinced him to move to Toronto 16 years ago. She died 10 years ago.

To commemorate Tomkin’s 100th birthday, a gathering of family and friends will take place today at his home.

Tomkin does have one regret about moving to Canada “I lost my identity because I was always professionally geared. My identity was suddenly cut loose,” he says.

Despite the challenges Tomkin faced when he left his life in South Africa, he expressed much appreciation for Canada and all that it has offered him.