We owe much to Sadie Stren (1915–2014). She enriched Brantford’s social fabric through her devotion to community organizations, and acted as an archivist and historian for the Jewish community. 

She was born and raised in a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood in Detroit. Sadie met her future husband Maurice in Brantford while visiting relatives. They married in 1947 and raised two children, David and Patti. 

Sadie became very active in both Jewish and non-Jewish organizations including Hadassah and  the Hebrew School, and she sat on the Board of Directors for eight organizations and was the president of four. Sadie was the president of the Family Service Bureau and the Women’s University Club and was a board member the of the YM-YWCA. 

As a local amateur historian, she assembled the history of Brantford’s Jewish community. Sadie spoke at conferences, worked to educate the non-Jewish residents about their Jewish neighbours, and contributed to the Jewish Historical Society Journal in 1981. Her article entitled “The Brantford Jewish Community 1881–1911” was accepted as part of ‘Judaica Americana’ (as reported in 1982 in the Journal of the American Jewish Historical Society). Local journalists writing about Brantford’s Jews relied heavily on Sadie’s accumulated knowledge and collection of artifacts. 

Upon moving to Toronto, she became a member of the Baycrest Women’s Auxiliary and volunteered at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Aphasia Institute. She passed on December 9, 2014. She was 100 years old.