Marty Zatzman was a musician and science teacher whose time at Camp Kadimah in Nova Scotia—first as a camper and later as a director—shaped his life.
Zatzman died in Toronto on Yom Kippur morning, Oct. 12. He was 71.
His friend Les Aaron knew him as “a great musician, a very smart guy but very humble. He was a rocket scientist, and taught science. He was a businessman. He was good at a lot of things.
“But music made him beloved to all.”
And his love of music created a backdrop that his son Noah describes as “the soul of his soul.”
Marty attended Kadimah as a camper in the 1960s, met his wife Belarie there in the 1970s, took his leadership skills from Kadimah to Toronto as an educator in the 1980s—and then returned to Kadimah as camp director in the 1990s.
Michael Soberman, co-chair of Kadimah’s board, worked with Zatzman and was part of their regular Toronto card group. “He never got angry. He never got upset. He always gave people the benefit of the doubt. He was a loveable guy. No one had anything bad to say about Marty.
“I got the sense that he felt most at home at Camp Kadimah. Music was near and dear to him. He was the soundtrack of Camp Kadimah. It didn’t matter what else he was doing; his music was a labour of love.”
Zatzman created Kadimah’s camp band, and put together rock combos at the schools where he taught. The Shpielers was one of his groups, which brought joy to elderly Baycrest Centre residents, and Holocaust survivors. BackTrack, another of his acts, nurtured professional vocalists and other musicians.
Plus, he was a devoted member of KlezKonnection—whose surviving players performed at his funeral at Beth Tzedec Congregation in Toronto.
Zatzman was the second of four brothers who grew up on Slater Street in Dartmouth. He learned to play guitar from his next-door neighbour, the late Kevin MacMichael, whose band Cutting Crew scored a worldwide number-one hit with the song “(I Just) Died in Your Arms.”
All four of Zatzman’s grandparents were Maritime Jews whose families escaped the pogroms in Russia and Ukraine in the early 1900s, and emigrated to Canada. His father Myer (Mike) owned Myer’s Sports Shop in Dartmouth, and Cleves Sporting Goods in Halifax. Marty was also proud to have met Terry Fox prior to his run across Canada.
“My dad’s uncle, Joe Zatzman, was the first Jewish mayor east of Montreal,” son Noah explained. Zatzman Sportsplex and Joseph Zatzman Drive in Dartmouth were named in honor of him.
Marty’s love of Kadimah led his surname to become synonymous with the camp—the family estimates that 18 Zatzmans spent the summer either attending or working there during some years in the 1990s.
He was the program director when Belarie Hyman arrived from Toronto as a counsellor and drama specialist in 1974. When she needed funding for her program, and Marty refused, she went over his head to get the cash.
After that, the couple stayed together for 50 years.
Marty earned a bachelor of science in Astrophysics from Dalhousie, a master of science from St. Mary’s, and education degrees from University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He started his career as a teacher in 1977, when he also married Belarie.
During the 1990s and 2000s, Zatzman taught physics, technology and science and consulted for the Toronto District School Board as well as University of Toronto Schools and the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto— but he could be found at Kadimah every summer until 2005.
Hundreds of current and former Kadimah staff and community members attended his retirement party, which was hosted by his brother Steven in Dartmouth.
After leaving camp, he never missed an opportunity to use music as his ‘calling card,’ his friend Les Aaron remembers. “Marty was able to communicate his love of music and his enjoyment of music. He was having so much fun himself and he loved playing for others, and it came through in the way he connected with his audiences.”
Marty and Belarie were in Florida one year when they realized that other members of BackTrack would be there at the same time. The band came to Hallandale, and performed outside the condominium where the Zatzmans were staying. (They returned for two more years of encore performances.)
During the COVID years, Marty performed outdoor concerts for the senior-aged residents of the Terraces at Baycrest, and he rented a tent at his home where his bands could rehearse, inviting anyone who wanted to bring a chair and enjoy. He played concerts for the Hospital for Sick Children, the UJA Walk for Israel—and anywhere that he could bring people together.
His funeral concluded with his children leading a heartfelt rendition of “Farewell to Nova Scotia.”
Zatzman is survived by his wife Belarie, his three children, his mother-in-law Ruth Hyman and his brothers Ian and Ray. He was predeceased by his brother Steven.
