News

The Schulich School of Law mourns the loss of our esteemed alumnus and friend Frank Medjuck (LLB ’67), who died of cancer on March 14 in Halifax at the age of 71 and was buried in Israel. A memorial service was held for him at the Beth Israel Synagogue on March 22.

Medjuck, a lawyer and real estate developer, was born in Halifax; in addition to his law degree, he held a master’s degree in town planning from University College London. He was the lead fundraiser for the law school’s Class of ’67, which raised $26,000 to help students with a $30,000 project: installing new lockers on the first floor of the Weldon Law Building.

For more than 40 years, Medjuck and his brother Ralph worked together on Halifax real estate developments, including the Toronto-Dominion Bank building on Barrington Street, apartment buildings such as Park Victoria and LeMarchant Towers, and such hotels as the Lord Nelson, the Citadel Inn, and the Prince George. He was active in the Jewish community and edited two books about Nova Scotia’s Jewish history.

He was one of the good ones – very competent, ethical, practical, and with an ever-ready sense of humour to keep everything in perspective." — Former classmate John Merrick

“My father was a good person in every sense of the word. A good friend, he was respectful, charitable, and funny,” his daughter Bena Medjuck-Bruckner wrote for a eulogy delivered at the funeral in Israel. “He was always going to be the person who helped someone privately, or who gave generously of his money and his personal time to help raise someone’s spirits or to help pay for a community event.”

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage told the CBC this about Medjuck: “He certainly did a lot for the community. He was involved in a lot of things from his faith point of view, but also his community point of view.”

Schulich School of Law professor Kim Brooks says that Medjuck was “an institution” in the Halifax legal community. “I once sat in a restaurant eating lunch while he dined at a table close by,” she says. “Every person who came in or left the place dropped by his table to share a greeting or a story or to seek a bit of advice.”

John Merrick was a law school classmate of Medjuck’s. “While our areas of practice did not frequently overlap, it was always a pleasure to see him,” he says. “He was one of the good ones – very competent, ethical, practical, and with an ever-ready sense of humour to keep everything in perspective. Each time we crossed paths, he greeted me as if we were friends who saw each other on a daily basis. I would come away from each encounter with a smile on my face. Frank was your friend, and he made you feel good. He will be remembered.”