Klaus Dittmar

Klaus August Eduard Dittmar of Aurora, Ontario passed away on May 6th, 2024 in his 96th year, being cared for and comforted by his beloved daughter, Stefanie. In addition to Stefanie, he leaves behind his son-in-law, Arthur Lee and his grandchildren, David Lee of Ottawa and Caroline Lee of Victoria, B.C. Klaus was predeceased by the love of his life, his wife Anne (Wiltraud) Dittmar, his parents, Ida and Erich Dittmar and his brother Horst Dittmar. In Germany, he also leaves behind his younger sisters, Gisela, Helga and Karin and his nephew Andreas Knoll.

Born on October 8th, 1928 in Koesternitz, Pommern, Germany, Klaus was the second son of Ida and Erich Dittmar. In 1938, just before the onset of WWII, his family moved to Stargard, Pommern, Germany. At the tender age of 10, Klaus was required to join the Junkvolk, our version of the Boy Scouts. At the age of 15, he was forced to join the war and nearly lost his arm when he was shot (twice in the same arm) if it wasn’t for the care and compassion of an English doctor that treated him.

Forever changed by the devastation and suffering he witnessed during the war, he was determined to start a new life outside of Germany after the war ended. Before he did, he met a very pretty young kindergarten teacher named Wiltraud, who he fell in love with. As he told the story many years later, he couldn’t tell his friends her name was Wiltraud, so he changed it to “Anne” and it stayed with her.

Since his landed immigrant visa came through from Canada first, he chose Canada for his new life with her instead of Australia and travelled ahead to find employment. Having worked as an apprentice at different factories after the war making construction parts and motorized bicycles, he always had an aptitude for engineering and loved to learn how things worked. In April 1952, he sailed to Canada on the M.S. Italia and found work as a machinist at the Westinghouse Co. in Hamilton, Ontario. In December, 1952, against the wishes of her parents, his “Anne” followed and joined him in Hamilton. Three days later, on December 13th, 1952, they were married at the German Protestant Church in Hamilton.

Newly married and wanting more out of life for themselves and their future family, he enrolled at the Faculty of Education in Toronto in September 1956 and became a teacher, just like his grandfather, Eduard. His first job after graduation was in Sudbury, where Stefanie was born in 1960 and he and Anne met many life-long friends. After Sudbury, they moved to Aurora, where they settled and raised Stefanie. Klaus taught and became the Technical Department Head at Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School in Aurora until his retirement in 1987.

While teaching, he and Anne were encouraged by another teacher to purchase land at the site of the original Houser Farm on the beautiful shores of Boshkung Lake in the Haliburton Highlands, approximately two hours north of Aurora. Klaus and Anne built their dream cottage, furnished beautifully and carefully from IKEA, and it became a cherished place to enjoy refreshing early morning swims, relaxing kayak rides, the latest cottage building project, dinners on the deck and sunset evenings for themselves and their family.

To know Klaus was to know someone that was always interested in what you thought and what your interests were, especially those of his cherished and beloved grandchildren, David and Caroline. Almost always, he would begin by saying, “Let me say this about that” and then if you weren’t listening closely enough he’d say, “Do you want my advice or do you want to make your own mistakes?”

Klaus made a lasting impact on all that knew him, especially his family. He will be deeply missed, but never forgotten.

His family is deeply grateful for the compassionate care he received by Dr. Habib, the staff and caregivers at Delmanor Aurora.

In accordance with Klaus’ wishes, he has been cremated and a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.