Fundholder Steven Low passed away on May 19, 2024. However, through his Foundation his important work and bold ideas for the future will continue. You can learn more about Steven and his incredible life below.
Steven Low (Seweryn Lwów)
May 26, 1932, in Lwów, Poland – May 19, 2024, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, USA, of cardiac failure.
Having witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland, Steven came to Canada, along with his widowed mother, Berta. While attending McGill University (on a chess scholarship), he joined Gairdner & Company as a Security Analyst. Within a year he was recruited by American mining entrepreneur Joseph Hirshhorn, joining the team that discovered “The Big Z”. His curiosity and love for exploration saw him work closely with First Nation groups across Ontario, during various phases throughout his life.
His passion and drive led to many personal firsts, including being the first Jewish member of The Royal Canadian Yacht Club and serving as the first Jewish president of The Toronto Flying Club. He was a member of The Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Canadian Inter-American Association. He sat on the Board of Directors of The Toronto East General Hospital (fund-raising) and The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto. Gregarious in nature, these roles were perfectly suited for him.
A man of great vision and bold ideas, he ventured around the globe, from investing in copper mining in South America to brokering oil deals in the Middle East. Always ahead of the curve and ready to embrace new trends, he was a leading figure in bringing pharma, electronics and telecom to post-Soviet Russia. He had a gift of seeing opportunities and solutions to problems and the courage to take them.
He had a passion for chess, good food, and music, with a love for Pavarotti. And Queen. And the song, “My Way.” Always ready with a story to tell or a joke to share, Steven loved the company of others. He was the consummate host. Impeccably groomed. Fluent in seven languages. Curious about life.
In 2021, when the news broke regarding the discovery of unmarked graves at residential schools in Canada, he was beyond heartbroken: he was determined to make a difference. In the fall of 2022, with the help of the Oakville Community Foundation, he created The Steven Low Foundation.
In his later years, with the onset of Parkinson’s disease, he became closer to his Jewish roots, and celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in his 91st year, something denied to him in his youth. But most of all, Steven loved spending time with his family. That was what he always wanted more, as evident by the dozens of family photographs around his home. In every room – family photos – on almost every piece of furniture. “When will I see you again?” was his familiar question, when saying goodbye.
He is survived by his children Michael, Andrea, Veronica (Michael Pohlmann) Patricia and Philip, by his grandsons Yannick (Stephanie) and Elias, by his great-granddaughter Ysabelle, and by his first cousin Mark Rozanski (Helen) and their children, Peter and Johanna.
