Obituary of HEINZ THATER

HEINZ THATER June 26, 1932 - August 29, 2012 Peacefully with his loving family by his side, after a brief illness, Heinz (Pops) passed away on August 29, 2012, at the Concordia Hospital at the age of 80. His memory will be forever cherished by his loving wife of 37 years, Marianne, his sons Hans (Lesia), Bill (Celina), Roger, his daughters, Petra (Bill) and Claudia, his grandchildren, Alexandra (Bill), Tyler (Kay), Bobby, Adam (Michelle), Dean (Brie-Ann), Dave (Christine), Courtney (Graham). He was recently blessed with two great-grandsons, Samuel and Noah, who were the apple of his eyes. Dad was born in Germany on June 26, 1932. He grew up during the hardships of the Second World War but persevered and immigrated to Canada in 1956, bringing his young family with him. After a brief career in agriculture and construction, he settled into a long career in the hospitality industry, retiring from the Winnipeg Convention Centre in 2006. Pops enjoyed the outdoors. He especially loved camping and fishing and in recent years, he and Mom enjoyed their stays at the family cottage. Spending time with his family was most important to him. Dad showed this by cooking up a storm at every family gathering, especially at Christmas. His gourmet meals will be sadly missed. He could spend hours sharing his experiences and his wealth of knowledge. After his retirement, Dad found an interest in computers and in front of the computer is where we would usually find him when we came to visit. He always had a positive outlook on life. He used his energy for helping his family with our endeavors and was proud of all of us and never failed to give us support on our journeys. A special thank you to our sister Claudia, who provided us with her nursing expertise and comforted us and our dad during his last hours. We would also like to thank the staff of Concordia Hospital from Endoscopy to ER to N1S especially Dr. Peter Bosma and Dr. D. Caners for their care and compassion during this very difficult time. A celebration of Heinz's life will be held on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, at the Cropo Funeral Chapel (1442 Main Street) at 7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Heart and Stroke Foundation or CancerCare.