Heinz Hugo Gustav Kuhne

December 30th 1934 – May 29th 2022

Heinz Hugo Kuhne: a God fearing, Christ loving husband, father, grandfather, plumbing and heating contractor, socialite, beloved friend, Rotarian, and force of life died peacefully in Chilliwack General Hospital with his daughter (Susie) by his side.

Heinz came to Canada in the summer of 1955 from post-war Germany with adventure in his heart and driven by an indistinctive desire to make a better life compared to a war-torn nation which he believed was, “surrounded by communists”. The political cold war island of Berlin was too small for him, but he received an invitation (legally) to come to Canada with the promise of “abundant job opportunities” and $100 loan from a Canadian / German friend. When asked why he left Germany, his favorite response was, “there were too many Germans”.

The journey to Canada aboard Holland-America’s MS 7 Seas was memorable. The conditions in the English Channel were rough, and Heinz didn’t have “sea-legs”. As the “urging” started, he ran up the stairs from the lower decks spewing left and right, and just as he opened the door to main deck to relieve himself, the wind was in his face as he projectile vomited…”everything I puked out came right back at me”. He sat on a deck chair for hours recovering, drying out, and waiting for his shower time. Ships at that time mandated limited showering for lower class passengers. The ship’s domestic water was gravity fed, and the temperature was poorly controlled (only a plumber would analyze this!) One of the other passengers got 3rd degree burns while showering, and the ship had to return to Germany given the onboard emergency. Sarcastically, he said, “I got to experience the English Channel twice in one trip – how fortunate was I?”.

Finally arriving in Canada, Immigration processed Heinz’s landing in Quebec City…and spelled his name wrong. Given Heinz’s inexistent English, the Immigration Officer looked at the “ü” in Kühne and converted it to “u” which seems natural, but the anglicized version should read, “ue”. This always annoyed Heinz, and sometimes he used Kuehne in place of Kuhne in quiet protest. The rest of the family didn’t really care since no one could pronounce it anyway.

After immigration processing in Quebec City, the ship continued to the final port of call, Montreal. While docking, Heinz looked down from the deck at the crowds of other immigrants. To his dismay, he saw chaos – mass fist fights / angry immigrants because the dock officials made it clear that, “there are no jobs – figure it out”; all the immigrants were sold the same story on the promise of jobs in the land of opportunity, but as we know now, you must create your own in America. The confusing foreign languages spoken at the dock, his inability to communicate, and only $9 in his pocket (about a day’s wages), he was deflated and questioned why he came to Canada. “I thought Germany was bad, but this was insane”. Lucky for the rest of us, he figured it out. Years later, his language skills so improved that he even lost his German accent.

Within the year, he settled in Ottawa as a labourer in a furniture factory. Home sickness setting in, he asked his then his girlfriend, Inge to visit in 1956. Inge, wanting to stay with him longer, but she received a deportation warning for a soon to be expired visa; as such, they married in Ottawa, Ontario on November 3rd, 1956. He visited Germany for 8 weeks during Christmas, 1957, but after 4 weeks back in Germany, he was now homesick for Canada, and he realized that he had “grown-up”. By 1960, Inge and Heinz started a family (Susie ‘60 and Bobby ‘63), bought their first house, and established a thriving Plumbing contracting business (Berlin Plumbing and Heating – how typical) after working a few years with Modern Mechanical.

Late in 1969, Heinz developed a distaste for, 1) working construction outdoors in -20 and, 2) for the eastern political (FLQ) unrest at the time. He ran from the political unrest in Germany and didn’t want any part of it in his new country. Upon an invitation by a close friend (Erik), Heinz took a trip to Chilliwack, BC, in March 1970. “When I landed in Vancouver, I got rid of my parka, rented a car, and drove to Chilliwack with the window down while the tulips were in bloom”. The next day, intoxicated by “lotus-land”, he bought a house, called Inge, and instructed her to sell everything and start packing…the adventurer at heart didn’t consult with his wife prior to such an important decision! It took Inge 20 years to fully adjust thereafter. Their marriage was very stressed during these years, but he and Inge always found a way to repair / repent keeping their marriage oath, “Till death do we part”. An achievement non the less always guided by God’s miraculous mercy / influence.

Heinz established a local plumbing company, Chilliwack Mechanical, and for a time owned a restaurant called the Tasty Spot in Vedder Crossing. Heinz’s mantra: “Why hire employees when you have family”, and “if the kids can walk, they can work”. On his coattails and dreams, Inge and Susie flipped burgers and made ice-cream cones while Heinz and Bobby worked construction sites. One cannot fully describe the positive relationship bonds we developed in a family operated business; ours were incredible, all on the wake of a man with a dream and his angelic forgiving wife/partner.

Heinz’s spiritual journey started in Germany as a young boy when his Methodist neighbours frequently talked about Jesus while distributing Christmas gifts from the US (like today’s Christmas Box programs…keep giving). This imprinted God on his heart. Heinz’s spiritual quest matured in his later year’s somewhat replacing and sometimes complimenting his zest for politics. Only Heinz could draw a convincing parallel between both! All of this was sandwiched between debating “conspiracies” and telling jokes; some jokes were questionable, but clearly this was about a man who was transitioning from “job-site trade talk” to “God” talk.

A close friend of Heinz once remarked on his early days: “only Heinz could get himself into trouble, out of trouble, and back into trouble in the same sentence”. That quote sums up Heinz’s candidness and outgoing demeanor to talk to anyone and everyone about anything and everything! This unwavering trait left the family frequently wondering where Heinz disappeared to for what was seemingly short and simple tasks. If he went for a coffee or to get parts for a job, he’d return 3 hours later because he had to talk to someone. It drove us crazy at the time, but he didn’t waiver, and later in life we began to appreciate that his “compass” always pointed in one direction; ” everyone you meet is important in some way, so talk to them”. To wit, he once won a Dale Carnegie award for most accomplished speaker / student. I think that course fueled / solidified his natural heartful tendencies.

There are some notable friends Heinz had who facilitated his spiritual journey and supported him at lowest / most difficult moments, namely Angus and Sandra Haggerty, and the Hunsaker’s. He is indebted to their friendship / compassion doing God’s work. He frequently said, “We are all sinners, and by golly, I am the biggest”, but his God inspired heart and patient / loving friends helped form this lump of coal into partly coal / partly diamond. Heinz had a sign in office that read, “True friends are like diamonds – precious and rare”. It was his lifelong quest / passion to develop true friends in unlikely places.

There are many other friends that Heinz had, and many are predeceased. He boasted that, “I am oldest living Kuhne in the family tree”. That good feeling was dampened frequently as he outlived many close friends and attended their funerals, but Heinz quickly recovered and made new friends again. Outside of the loss of his lifelong partner, Inge, Heinz was deeply impacted by the loss of Dieter, Boris, Rolf, Erik, & Fred/Ruth and many others. He also had a heartfelt / prayerful yearning for his kid’s and grandkids albeit contact time with extended family was sparse due to many geographic / socio-economic factors, but close friends filled the void in part. His Rotary friends made a huge impact on him, and sadly, his departure from the group was a low point in his life. Shortly thereafter, he and Inge started volunteering at the local Salvation Army soup kitchen, and this was transformational / inspirational for both of them, and they volunteered for almost 10 years there. “So many people to talk / share with”. Heinz said, “the best thing I did to get past the lowest points in my life was to force myself to get out and serve / uplift others…not easy to do when you’re feeling down, but definitely therapeutic.”

In summary, Heinz loved and trusted strangers and made friends easily, and he left us with some fond and funny memories. He is survived by Susie and Bobby (Karin) his six grandchildren (Elly, Konrad, Erik, Robert Jr., Nadia, and Mia).

Heinz is now God’s immigrant, courageously, mercifully, humbly, and peacefully awaiting reunion.

Heinz will join Inge at the Chilliwack, Cemetery on 28, Sep 2022 at 2:00 pm. At his request, please forward donations or flowers to the Salvation Army.