Gunnar Albert Boehnert

Gunnar Charles Albert Boehnert, of Cambridge and previously Guelph, Ontario, passed away on Thursday, April 1st, 2021, at the age of 88. After several months of declining health, Gunnar died peacefully at Cambridge Memorial Hospital with his beloved wife Krystyna by his side.

Gunnar was born May 8, 1932 to Erna and William Boehnert in Edmonton, Alberta. Gunnar’s family moved from Canada to Germany in 1936. The struggles he faced as a Canadian child in war-torn Germany and occupied Poland defined his entire life.

Gunnar’s experiences of the war was a subject he carefully avoided. The one war story he enjoyed telling was the story of his 13th birthday which fell on 8th of May 1945. Gunnar and his mother were in northern Germany when allied tanks arrived on VE Day.

After the war, Gunnar lived in Munich on the American military base and attended American high school. Gunnar returned to Canada as a teenager where he eventually studied pre-medicine at University of Edmonton and ran the 800-meter sprint for the Canadian Team. He joined the Canadian Air Force and he piloted B-25’s in Search and Rescue missions in the Canadian North. This career path came to an abrupt end when the military discovered he was motion sick.

Gunnar then studied German Literature and completed two Masters’ Degrees. It was during this period that he met Joanna Bartlett at Middlebury College, Vermont. Gunnar and Joanna were married and moved to Guelph, Ontario Canada in 1968.

Gunnar was awarded a PhD in History in 1977 at University College London. His doctoral thesis, titled Sociography of the SS Officer Corps, 1925-1939, documented demographic details of SS officers in Nazi Germany.

Gunnar was Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Guelph. During this time he also served in the Canadian Army Reserve as a Major and was a defense analyst and former director of The Atlantic Council of Canada, a NATO organization. With a focus on disarmament, Gunnar and colleague Henry Wiseman hosted the Strategies for Peace and Security in a Nuclear Age conference in 1983 at the University of Guelph, where Pierre Trudeau gave a keynote speech.

Starting in 1993 and lasting nearly two decades, Gunnar spent the fall semester at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, teaching in the department of Journalism. He also taught the history of Auschwitz to North American students and conducted 31 tours of the Nazi concentration camp.

Gunnar was enthusiastic, joyful and passionate about all aspects of life. He was friendly and talkative with strangers. He was a popular professor and enjoyed his students.

Gunnar, a devoted and loving husband, father and grandfather, is survived by his wife, Krystyna; daughters, Joanna (Jody) and Jennifer; brother, Detlef; sister-in-law; Ulrika; step-children, Monika, Isabelle, and Peter; grandchildren, James, Owen, Charlie, and Ilyse; and family through marriage, Joel, Beth, Curt, and Dawn. Gunnar is preceded in death by his former wife and mother of his children, Dr. Joanna Bartlett Boehnert. His ashes will be buried with Joanna’s on her family plot in Vermont.