GERSHBAIN, Doreen (Mitchell) - We are heartbroken to announce that Doreen passed away of natural causes on Monday, July 13, 2020.
Doreen is survived by her husband and the love of her life, Irving (Irv) Gershbain, her adoring kids, Kyle (Kristina Nauss Smith), Devi and Nikki (Kavita Joshi), and her beloved grandchildren, Max and Ela.
Doreen was born in Winnipeg on October 26, 1933, in St. Boniface Hospital. Irving was born three days prior on October 23, also at St. Boniface. Their family always marvelled at the fact that they were side-by-side in the hospital as infants, and said that meeting 25 years later was bashert (meant to be).
Doreen grew up very poor in a rough part of downtown Winnipeg, and her childhood was not easy. She was very connected to the Jewish community through the YMHA (Young Men's Hebrew Association).
Sadly, in 1946 when she was 13 years old, her parents divorced - not a common occurrence at that time. Doreen and her mother Evelyn Mitchell (nee Komorofsky) and brother Ken Mitchell (deceased) shared a one bedroom apartment in the Betz Block on Assiniboine Avenue.
Doreen had a date planned for later that evening, but after meeting Irv, she cancelled it. She and Irv fell immediately and madly in love and eloped a year later - in the middle of winter, in the middle of the night - in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. Doreen and Irv would have been married 63 years, this January.
Act II began in 1993, when Doreen suffered a massive stroke during chemotherapy treatment for colon cancer. The stroke left her aphasic, paralyzed on one side and confined to a wheelchair. From that moment on, Irv devoted himself to being Doreen's full-time caregiver, attending to her every need, even as he himself lived with a serious heart condition and became increasingly blind.In 2005, Doreen and Irv's grandson Max was born. Doreen was an adoring grandmother. She wasn't able to be an active grandparent because of her disabilities, but she found ways to connect with Max through books and humour. In 2013, Doreen's daughter Nikki moved in with her partner Kavita, and Doreen welcomed Kavita's daughter Ela into her family as her second, cherished grandchild.
A graveside service will be held on Friday, July 17, 2020
Doreen was a passionate ally for the LGBTQ community. Memorial donations can be made to Toronto PFLAG - Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
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