Eric M. Roher was legal pioneer, beloved temple leader

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If Bay Street was his professional stage, Holy Blossom Temple was where Roher’s Jewish life unfolded, from childhood onward. The Roher name is stamped into the building itself, through the Roher Library and a Roher family stained‑glass window; he grew up attending religious school there, was wed there, and remained an active lay leader for decades.

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If Bay Street was his professional stage, Holy Blossom Temple was where Roher’s Jewish life unfolded, from childhood onward. Photo by Holy Blossom/YouTube

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He served for years on the board before being elected president in November 2024, a role he often described as among the greatest honours of his life, his family said. Rabbi Yael Splansky called his leadership a “sacred partnership,” noting that he acted as the congregation’s “greatest cheerleader,” leading the board with good humour and encouragement.

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In his role as a regular gabbai on Shabbat mornings — the “stage manager” for the service — Splansky remembers looking over at the podium, and finding Roher so swept up in the melodies that he occasionally missed a cue, moments that only deepened her admiration for what she described as his “prayerful spirit.”

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As president, he made a habit of walking through each office in the building to greet staff members by name, according to Splansky.

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In 2026, as his illness became known, Holy Blossom dedicated a concert medley in his honour, and online described him as a “beloved president” whose life was “woven into the very fabric” of the congregation.

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Giving back has been a common thread — he lent his time to the local Liberal Party Electoral District Association when living in the Annex in the 1990s, at one point serving as its president. He volunteered for Carolyn Bennett’s federal election, as well as, more recently, Leslie Church’s, as her campaign fundraiser.

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Roher was described by friends and family as an energetic adventurer who never lost his curiosity. He met his future wife, Beth, in the late 1970s in Hay River, Northwest Territories, while working summers on barges along the Mackenzie River — a bearded young “barge rat,” according to daughter Jessica.

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Their paths crossed again at a wedding on the shore of Great Slave Lake, and later, improbably, in Paris, where both ended up living for a time; two Torontonians finding each other abroad, they turned a chance housing arrangement into a first date and, eventually, a marriage. Together, they built a life steeped in travel.

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The family paddled northern rivers, and explored the world with kids in tow, riding camels in the Sahara, watching the sunset on the Ganges, hiking in Patagonia, visiting Machu Picchu and swimming with turtles in the Galápagos.

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At their cottage on Muldrew Lake, Roher’s love of the water extended to a temperamental 17‑foot motorboat that stalled so often, he became a familiar figure being towed home by strangers, or paddling back at dusk, his daughter Jessica recalled, adding that his positive and adventurous spirit would not let him abandon either the boat, or the chance to meet someone new.

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Beth and Eric Roher on one of their trips together. Photo by Vernon Shaw

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With his grandchildren, that same spirit translated into hands‑on play: he volunteered as an instructor at his granddaughter Eva’s canoe camp and, at 71, was out on the raft trying to sink it, surrounded by shrieking children scrambling to stay aboard, while other adults watched from shore.

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“He never, ever stopped,” Weir said, noting that while fellow travellers napped after a day of hiking up a Guatemalan volcano, Roher went out to explore one more corner.

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Jessica shared a story she calls a quintessential Eric moment, from the late ‘70s: spotting a back door to Buckingham Palace propped open for a furniture delivery, he simply walked in and wandered the halls until Scotland Yard politely escorted him out. “When given an open door opportunity, he just walked through the door,” she said.

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He was the son of Lila and the late Douglas Roher and is survived by his wife, Beth; daughters Jessica, Rebecca and Sophie; two grandchildren; and four siblings.

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