Erwin Kurt Schenk

Erwin Kurt Schenk was born in Berlin, Germany on March 21, 1940. Because of a troubled family situation, he and his siblings were raised for much of his early years by his grandparents. He immigrated to Canada in 1961 aboard the Arkadia, landing in Quebec and travelling by train to Edmonton to join his mother, Elfriede Franz, his stepfather, Albert Franz, and his younger sister, Margaret Franz. He lived in Edmonton for several years and enjoyed exploring Alberta and the Rockies before making a move with friends to Brampton in 1967. He met his future wife, Wilda McIlveen, through mutual friends at the German Hansa Club Saturday night dances. This was back when the dances were held in the Junior Farmers Building on Elliot Street, part of the old Brampton Fair Grounds. It took him ages to learn how to pronounce “McIlveen” and it is doubtful that he ever remembered how to spell it. Wilda and Erwin were married in 1970. He became a father when son Kurt was born and later a daughter, Christine, joined the family. He was always proud of his children, in whatever they chose to do. He was extremely proud to be father-of-the-bride when Christine married Les Szucsko. He started working for DeHaviland, which then became McDonnell Douglas, which then became Boeing, for over 30 years. This lasted through strikes, layoffs, a move from Malton to Downsview and back to Malton until he took early retirement when Boeing was downsizing. During all that time, he worked on constructing wings for various airplanes. He was a member of the CAW Retirees when he passed away on February 24, 2016. He had many hobbies including fishing, soccer (both as a player and then coach), bowling, and badminton. He was proud of his German heritage and helped out at the German pavilion when they took part in Carabram. He was also an avid bird watcher, feeding the birds which came to his backyard feeders or watching the birds along the creek and through Chris Gibson Park. Some of his fishing buddies included his brother-in-laws Sandy and Henry, a friend from the U.K., Kevin, and his friend from Toronto, Kurt. When they fished, and as the stories were told more often, the fish that got away grew bigger, and the tales grew taller about catching it. As a young man he played soccer and as a father, he coached with the Brampton Youth Soccer Club. He tried to convince everyone that soccer was the best sport ever played – whether or not they cheered for the German team in any international competition. Aside from soccer, he cheered for the Toronto Maple Leafs, which often resulted in frustration at their lack of wins. Erwin enjoyed bowling. At one time, he bowled in two leagues and then later cut it back to bowling only with the Hansa League. He was very serious, trying to improve his game and helping everyone else do their best. He enjoyed playing badminton with different badminton clubs and then moved to the Flowertown Senior Centre when it opened, where he sometimes played 3 times a week. He always put his heart into doing his best and tried to get everyone else to do the same. Erwin took his task of maintaining the condominium property of Rosset Crescent quite seriously. You could often find him mowing the grass, raking leaves, clearing snow, building back yard fences and helping his neighbours. He also often spent time trying to clean up the trash in Fletchers Creek. Erwin had advice and/or an opinion on nearly everything, including: fishing, soccer, gardening, bowling, badminton, birds, people who left trash in the park, Germany and the state of the world in general. He is survived by his wife Wilda, son Kurt, daughter Christine, and son-in-law Les, and extended family in Germany. He was predeceased by his father Erwin Kurt Schenk, his mother Elfriede Franz, his stepfather Albert Franz, his younger sister Margaret Franz and his older brother Dieter Schenk.

The family plans to plant a maple tree in Chris Gibson Park in his honour at a later date.