For Neil and Howard Burack, visits home to their mother in Ottawa always meant returning to Toronto with suitcases filled with cookies, cake, brisket and lasagna.
Neil says, “I had the best smelling luggage and wouldn’t have to cook for two months.”
“She orbited our lives,” says Howard, “prioritizing her family first and then the Jewish community.”
Their mother, Marlene Burack, began her nursing career at the Jewish General Hospital when she was 18. She raised her two sons in Ottawa, across the street from their grandparents, and later built a successful career with the Government of Canada. The death of her beloved father from heart disease in 1975, left a lasting impact that would heighten her deep gratitude for the lives and presence of those she loved most.
Neil and Howard remember their mother as being a sentimental, emotional, and sweet person who cared for others and wore her heart on her sleeve.
Teaching her boys to be good, decent to others, and to show up for their extended family, Neil and Howard recall that despite age and health complications, she would travel to every holiday and celebration.
Neil, Howard, and Marlene Burack.
Following her first heart attack at 57, Marlene was treated at the Heart Institute. Her sons can still remember the fear she experienced at the thought of never seeing them again.
With the opportunity to recover, Marlene quit smoking and enjoyed 30 more years of travel and connection. She also updated her Will to include a gift to the Institute.
Howard laughs remembering daily calls with their mother. “She always said, ‘What else?’ and wanted to know more.”
He believes that Marlene’s gift, through her Will, was a way of thanking the Institute for decades of time with her family. “She wanted more people to have the benefits that she received. And to know that having a heart attack doesn’t necessarily mean that your life is over.”
Asked why he and Howard feel it is important to share their mother’s story, Neil says that they want others to know about the option of leaving a legacy gift. “Our mother never did anything to be in the spotlight. Her gift was based on the profound impact of her heart attacks and the care and expertise she received to recover. She was simply a hardworking and loving person, which is really all it takes to help your community.”
