Rezika Fruhman

From Krakow to Manchester — the rise of a top British Jewish caterer

FOR OVER 40 years Rezika Fruhman, who has died aged 94, was an indispensible presence at some 10,000 Jewish celebrations throughout Manchester and the North West. From brit milah to barmitzvah, from weddings to charitable events, she often catered for 2,000 people a day at seven or eight functions, each with different menus.

Regina (Rezika) Monath was born in Budapest into a Polish family. When she was 18 months old, the family returned to Poland and she attended the Hebrew Gymnasium in Krakow, learning Ivrit, which stayed with her for the rest of her life. One of her fondest memories was being chosen to make a presentation on behalf of the school to Chaim Nachman Bialik.

In 1925 her brother Henry was born, and following the death of her father in 1933, her mother remarried and a son, Edward, was born. Through the foresight of her redoubtable mother, the family escaped to England.

Rezika came to Manchester’s Cheetham Hill in 1939 and in 1945 she married Samuel Ryba, a former soldier in the Polish and British armies. They bought The Holme in Sedgley Park Road, Prestwich, with a view to creating a Jewish country club and catering business. The Holme was 10,000 sq. ft of late Georgian quasi Gothic, which boasted such features as a tennis court, putting green, a ballroom and stables which became the ‘in-house’ bakery. In 1947 her first child, Steven, was born, but in February, 1949 Sam was killed when his train was blown up by Spanish terrorists near Barcelona, where he is buried.

Despite this tragedy she managed to maintain the fledgling business and cope with a new baby. During this period, the Holme became home to many of the Polish boys (later part of the 45 Aid Society) who escaped the Holocaust. In Rezika they found a virtual surrogate mother. Many married from The Holme and Rezika catered their weddings on an ad hoc basis, a feature of her much lauded generosity in both her personal and business life.

Her marriage in 1954 to Polish-bornMark Fruhman lasted an idyllic 50 years and she had two more children, Lawrence and David. Reluctantly Rezika closed the business in 1986 when Mark reached 65 and wanted to retire. Rezika had a self-deprecating sense of humour and knew instinctively what was important and what was trivial She was as lovely inside as outside.

She is survived by her brother Henry, her sons, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Edward predeceased her in 2005.

STEVEN FRUHMAN