It could be one of those urban legends, but not in this case. Vandalism in Toronto apartment buildings was plaguing landlords throughout the 1960s. Cleaning up graffiti and damage was costing thousands of dollars and was hurting tenants’ morale. There seemed to be no solution.
Marvin Sadowski, who then managed a development on Rosebury Road, had an idea. He rounded up some children in the building and deputized them as watchdogs. He encouraged them to elect a “mayor” and council. The mini-politicians policed the unit with great fervour and, as an approving 1969 story in the Toronto Star noted, vandalism dropped drastically.
The move was a hallmark of a gentle man who, as the saying goes today, thought outside the box.
Sadowksi died in Toronto on Aug. 22 of natural causes. He was 86.
A stalwart in property management and housing advocacy in Toronto, he actively volunteered with a number of Jewish organizations, including Baycrest, where he chaired the board of directors; the Bernard Betel Centre for Creative Living; Holy Blossom Temple, where he served on the board; Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC); and the Canadian Friends of Haifa University (CFHU), where he joined the board in 1992, served as vice-president from 1993 to 2001 and became chair in 2013.
In 2001, he received the Shem Tov Award from UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
In a 2011 CJN interview before receiving the University of Haifa’s first lifetime achievement award, Sadowski said he fell in love with the facility about 30 years earlier. “I was invited on a trip, and I was immediately taken by the beautiful campus, which overlooks Haifa,” he said.
He was also struck by the fact that about one-quarter of its students were Arabs. “I loved seeing Israelis and Arabs walking together. I think that maybe the rift could lessen, and even disappear, if everyone was educated together,” he said.
“He was a pillar of strength for the Friends and I will sorely miss his advice,” said CFHU president Arnie Aberman. “No Israeli university is more diverse, and Marvin valued outreach to the many Israeli communities – the Christian-Arab, the Muslim-Arab, the Druze. He was very proud that the University of Haifa made it a priority to educate all of Israel’s diverse communities.”
FSWC president and CEO Avi Benlolo recalled Sadowski as “a warm and gentle soul who passionately stood for tolerance and human rights. We were fortunate to count him among our supporters.”
Sadowski was born Sept. 6, 1929 in the northern Ontario town of Massey, between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. His was the sole Jewish family there.
“We were proud Jews, though,” he told The CJN in 2011. “We lit Shabbat candles every week and went to synagogue services in Sudbury.”
His brother, Jack, said their grandparents, Henry and Rose, emigrated from Kiev to the United States, then were lured to Canada with promises of property. Henry was a pedlar who had 11 children and established a general store in Massey, serving local miners, lumberjacks and First Nations communities. His son, Mose, eventually took over the business.
Marvin, his brother said, headed to Toronto in 1946 to attend Forest Hill Collegiate. After graduation, he entered the car business and married Ruth Fine, who died in 2006. He went on to open his own dealership, Cedarvale Motors, on St. Clair Avenue.
“He was a born salesman,” his brother said.
Sadowski started in property management in 1967 with Cadillac Fairview, where he worked until 1981. He then served as vice-president at Maysfield Property Management for nine years before working at Sterling Silver Development Corp. as executive vice-president for 17 years.
In 1995, while president of the 3,500-unit St. James Town apartment complex in downtown Toronto, he was named to the board of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority as part of an effort to clean up the embattled public housing provider. He also served as president of the Metro Toronto Housing Company.
Sadowski is survived by his second wife, Victoria; brother, Jack; children Carol, Richard and Jeffrey; 11 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.