say hello, or talk about the weather," said [Alan] Ferman, who remembers working in the store as a child. "It was like a melting pot, the store. People from all over the Avalon would come there and talk and my father used to say, every one of the customers are really our friends."On 11 February 1955, Grunia Ferman was sworn in as a full Canadian citizen. The Fermans eventually had agent stores in Freshwater, as well as in Carbonear by 1959. Ferman spoke nine different languages and, like her husband, acted as a translator in the community, often volunteering at hospitals to assist with visiting sailors. It was through this volunteer work that the Fermans were given, by a Polish sailor, a Torah from Chenstochov, Poland, which they gave to the St. John's Beth El synagogue circa 1972. The store closed in 1988 and the Fermans moved to Toronto to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Lewis Ferman died 16 October 1989. Grunia died in 2004. Their daughter Leah (Belfon) died 18 April 2017. Holocaust remembrance As Holocaust survivors in the 1970s, the Fermans were involved in initiating Holocaust remembrance events in St. John's. On 30 October 1995, Ferman was one of two survivors who presented the lecture Don't Tell Us the Holocaust Never Happened... We Were There in St. John's, as a response to Holocaust deniers. At the event, she was quoted as saying,We have to try to erase racism in this world. We have to be more tolerant of other people, other races, no matter what colour skin they have, what kind of religion they have. They are human beings, and we should never forget that.As part of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Jewish concentration camps, Memorial University of Newfoundland awarded Grunia Ferman an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. The degree was given to her on the afternoon of 28 October 1995, as part of Memorial University's Fall Convocation. Her oration was given by Professor Shane O'Dea. Lewis Ferman & Co. sign discovery and conservation On 1 October 2018, Twitter user Brad Collins shared a photo of an old sign bearing the words "Lewis Ferman & Co." which had been uncovered during renovation work on a Subway restaurant franchise on Water Street in St. John's. Staff from the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador rushed to the site, to find that workers