Jack Weiner

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"I am so happy to see that there is a beautiful picture of my Papa put on the Cansino web page.  He was a wonderful man who always treated me as one of his favorite granddaughters.  He lived his life to the fullest and took advantage of every opportunity to have some fun.  I loved him so much and so many things that I do, remind me of him.  He always reassured me that I had skin like velvet and I think I get my swimming techniques and french fry craving from him.  We both love the water and all water sports because from what I hear, he was an excellent water skier.  I miss him with all of my heart and I take a piece of him with me wherever I go."

Robin Adolf

Whenever I feed seagulls, peanuts on the fly,
whenever I think of skiing, behind his boat in youth gone by,
whenever I see monograms, or my first shoe shine kit,
whenever I need a friendly ear, or see respect for the family unit,
whenever I share a zest for life, whenever I have some fun,
I think of my beloved Uncle Jack, who showed me how it's done.

"Uncle Jack was easy to love.  He always treated us with kindness and dignity.  Uncle Jack use to call me "The Rock", but in truth, it reflected much more his own strength and honor.  I will always remember him with great fondness and affection.  May his memory be for a blessing, and may his beautiful, heavenly soul cast merit on us all."

His Loving Nephew,

Lo Lehman

I grew up running through the stock rooms of Saxon Shoes while he and my mother worked.  We traveled and usually went to a beach of some kind.  Daddy  had a language all his own.  Words he would make up to make us giggle or  because he just liked being silly.  Funny thing is,  I do the same thing now  and I couldn't imagine not having those words or phrases in my vocabulary.   He had nicknames for so many of us but mine stuck and was used by Auntie Evie  whenever she called or saw me ..... I wasn't Susan,  I was "My Thoo".  My mom  still uses it to this day.  

Jack Weiner was a shoe man all his life but his true calling was the stage.  He was born to be a stand up comedian and whenever given the chance ,  he would take a microphone and work the crowd.  Either at a wedding or a Saxon party,  he had a joke or one liner to make us all roar.  His expressions would just light up his face and in turn melt all our hearts.  

At much to early an age he was dealing with by -pass surgery,  but that went well and he trudged on.   Just when a daughter reaches an age to really enjoy the company of a parent  and share her life and family with that parent,  something happens.  In dads case,  he was diagnosed with a brain tumor and from then on his whole world changed.  Given only 6 months ,  daddy survived for 2 1/2 years.  I guess he had things to do but he waited in hopes of making it to Jason's Bar Mitzvah.  Well,  he missed it by only 3 short weeks.  

I spent alot of time with dad while he was dealing with the cancer and I tried to do whatever it took to make his remaining days pleasant.  Not a day goes by that I don't think of him.  His silly cross-eyed smiling face picture sits in my office and of course,  his language comes out of my mouth on a regular basis. 

So I hope my comments shed some light on the man I knew as Daddy.  If you had the opportunity to know him then you were very fortunate indeed  and if you weren't one the members of the JW fan club,  then just ask me anytime and I will probably go on forever about who and what kind of man he was.  So too all of you that dad might have called "Harvey Schmekanee" I say......"Abban dabban on the zeiban"  ..........  With love forever to my daddy who art in heaven.  Your Thoo

Susan Adolf

Jack Weiner ..... Dad
I know you would wonder why I think of him as my dad.  It's because he was very special to me. Very much like my own dad.  I always watched how he reacted with his children, Susan and Gary, and emulated his warmth and style in raising my own children.   His happy and fun loving attitude made him the special person he was to others as well as his own family.

Anyone you speak to about him will always have a crazy story to tell, God knows I have plenty. I can remember little things that he did for me when I first started seeing Susan that just seemed neat coming from a parent.  He always made me feel at home and would always try to include me in early family activities. This made me feel very special.

He helped me through the loss of both of my parents and always made me feel that they were a part of his family too. This made my life easier as the two families became closer. These are the things that I will remember when it is time for me to do the same .

I can't tell you how hard it has been for me to even write this note, as he meant so much to me. Not having JW around for his funny faces, jokes and just good heartedness is something that has taken a very long time to get over. I will always miss him and will hold him very dear to my heart as I learned a lot of what I am today from him.

Ronnie Adolf

"He also was a generous, kind, and a bit of an eccentric man when it came to buying.  Instead of buying one or two item of anything, he would go for a case. His love was also in abundance. Never having a brother, he filled the bill just right."

Alfred Lehman

"Well here was another good guy taken from us.  I felt that if you didn't talk about our Brother Jack's passing away, the quicker the pain should ease up.  Not true, because everywhere we turned in Richmond, there was something, that reminded us of him.  Going into an elevator and smelling somebody's cologne was a reminder of how much he loved to douse himself in cologne or after shave lotion.  A special song sung in French or Spanish he would hum the melody. He was very a good Uncle to our Children.  He loved to pinch their tushies and I always fussed at him to cut that out, but he would do it anyway."

"As a young girl growing up, my sisters and I would go to the Beach in Deal NJ where we met Jack and his many friends.  We all paled around together during the summer and we were a group of fun loving kids with not a worry in the world.  We did do a lot of partying and dancing with his friends at the Berkeley Carteret. "

"Of course after awhile we knew that Jack and Gloria had a crush on each other and they became an "item".  Hey! that was a good match.  The rest is history.  Moving to Richmond after we all got married was a comfortable relationship. He was a hard working man and a loving brother in law.  He will always be in our hearts."

Gladys Lehman

Jeff Flax

"Accurate Fitting Is No Laughing Matter" - I LOVE that line.  It really puts into perspective the way J.W. was.  As a businessman, he knew how to handle his customers.  "Accurate fitting" - it HAD to be right.  Not merely correct, not simply stylish, but always ACCURATE a.k.a. PRECISE.  He knew what to do to get customers happy and coming back, you had to be precise, not just "fitted".  "No Laughing Matter" - sure, this is tongue in cheek.  J.W. laughed at everything.  He always was smiling.  He knew that life could not be taken too seriously. 

I remember one day, when I was working for J.W., I took an hour and a half break for a 30 minute lunch break.  Lord knows what I was doing but when I returned to Saxon Shoes to finish working for the day, I saw J.W. and he asked me how my lunch was.  I told him "Great".  He said "Glad to hear that, you may now leave the store -You're fired."  He taught me a great lesson that day.  I now own a business myself and would equally be upset at an employee if they were late and took a lunch period three times the allowed time.  ACCURATE!!!  Do you think J.W. was smiling after I left Saxon that day??  Perhaps.  Before he died, we had joked about it - a LAUGHING MATTER, I guess. 

There's no doubt that he was a great businessman.  He built a very successful shoe business with his steadfast partner, my Auntie Gloria, by his side.  I always thought of Gloria as the Leona Helmsley of Shoes.  He could never have done it without her.  I remember going into J.W.'s office MANY times with the wonderful cherubic picture of Papa Cansino (may He rest in peace) starring down onto J.W.  I would settle down into a chair and look at the chatzkes surrounding J.W.  Remember the little placard "He who dies with the most toys wins"? that J.W. kept on his desk.  I've seen that so many times around since then but NEVER have I forgotten where I saw it first - and I think that I smile now every time when I see that just about the same way J.W. did when he would show off the embroidered initials.

His life with Gloria and his kids, Susan and Gary, were the reason for his happy life.  Above all else, he was a family man. We know the boundless love he displayed for Gloria and Susan.  Susan was many times on his knee and getting kisses and hugs.  Susan still talks daily of J.W.  Susan and I have noted that both of us have carried on the tradition of marking all of the light switches in our home and business with the function of that switch.  I don't use a black grease pencil on the walls as he always did, but as I am creating the label to put on a door or light switch, I think of  J.W. and smile that smile. Gary has many of the J.W. genes.  We can see the sly and mischievous ways that my beloved cousin has.  We know from where he gets it.  Problem is that Gary has expressed many of the dominant J.W. genes and Gary has successfully passed this on to the next generation.  The J.W. gene is very much alive in his grand kids. 

We could go on for weeks about my Uncle Jack.  Everyone loved him, respected him and wanted to be around him.  You can't help but smile when you think of him.  And that is the BEST compliment I or anyone else could give such wonderful man.  Uncle Jack - I love you VERY much and miss you.  Bobby."

Bob Lehman

My Dad - Jack Weiner
He was Dad, Uncle Jack, JW, Mr. Saxon. A very special person with a heart of gold and a tremendous love of people, especially his family. He loved us all and was never afraid to show that love to those around him. The word charisma always comes to mind when I think about my dad. The ability to talk
to people, to truly care about people, to want for others; these are the traits that my father lived by. This is why I smile when I think of him and
why I am a better person today, though I miss him dearly.

Gary Weiner

I remember his wit and his humor most of all, even when he wasn't feeling well.  I think back to the time when he grabbed the microphone at the Saxon Shoes new store opening and when he got up there, he looked very fragile, as he was getting ill, but as soon as he spoke, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand!

Sometimes I wish that I would have known Uncle Jack as an adult as well as a kid, but I am thankful to have the memories that I do.  Most of my memories are from before college as a kid, since he left us soon after my return from college.  Still, a kid is the one who could understand him the best, since he was a kid at heart. I don't think that he ever let that go.  I know sometimes the  adults (aunts and uncles) thought he was a bit crazy, but the kids, who understood him the best, thought he was the greatest! 

And he was.

Rich Lehman

He was a great brother in law, a great friend, a lousy water skier, and I miss him very much.

Dicky Flax

When I think about Jack, it always brings a smile to my face.  It reminds me of what a wonderful, fun-loving person he was.  There are never a lack of stories to tell of all the things he did. They were never-ending, and you couldn't tell whether his antics were fact or fiction.

I will never forget times like when he told me he'd be over to pick me up in five minutes and up drove Charlie's Taxicab service, or the time when he told me he would take me to the safe deposit box so I could just take out the engagement ring Gary had bought for me.  I guess his persistence in that matter had a lot to do with my now being a part of the Weiner/Cansino family.

I loved having Jack Weiner as my father- in- law. You could never predict his jokes, tricks or finagling, and you couldn't help but love him for his fun loving spirit, generosity, and kind hearted ways.  Everyone did!  I might still be sharing the hairdryers, shampoo and suntan lotion he left in the attic, but I surely did not get to share enough time with him.

Beth Weiner

Jack had a heart of "gold".   He loved to help everyone, no matter what they wanted or needed.  In Passaic, New Jersey, he was known as "Jaakee".  At Saxon Shoes when we were downtown and very active in orthopedic shoes, he was known as "Doctor Saxon, " and on Longboat Key, he was known as "The Birdman of Longboat Key."  You see he even looked after the birds as he used to feed them.  He loved Florida.  The sand, the water and especially the sun.  He was a sun worshipper.  He was also a nut about monogramming his clothes, no, not his underwear.   And did he ever love clothes.  If he liked a sweater, he would buy it in all ten colors.  But with all his mishegas, he was a good guy.  He was a devoted husband, loving father and adoring grandfather.   We will always have great memories of all the fun times.  He may be gone from our midst, but not forgotten.

Gloria

Dear Jack, "Mr. Saxon"
We miss you and always got a kick out of your speeches...especially the ones you made with the mike in your hand(!!) blessing those around you.

You were the "Parham Pope"...you had a special touch and you always called me "The Queen."

You left us too soon but our affection for you will always be with you. Lewis "The General" and I bless your Soul Amen

Minnie & Lewis Held