KARL JOSEF GAMINEK

Just as it started to snow on Sunday, December 8, 2024, at 12:47 pm, Karl Josef Gaminek peacefully passed away at the age of 88, with his wife Edith by his side and his granddaughter Kjersten holding his hand.

Karl was born on March 17, 1936, in the tiny village of Neuhof, Egerland, Sudetenland, the 4th of nine children born to Josef and Elisabeth (nee Novak) Gaminek.

From the 11th century, ethnic Germans migrated into the Kingdom of Bohemia (which would become an integral part of Czechoslovakia), mostly the border regions of what was later called the Sudetenland. Before 1945, German people constituted 23% of Czechoslovakia’s population. After WWII, most of the German-speaking population was expelled from the country to Germany and Austria. Karl’s family, who had lived in the Sudetenland for generations, were given 24 hours to pack a limited amount of their belongings and leave their homeland. Karl was 9 years old and was forced to leave behind his most prized possession, his Jack Russell Terrier named Fiffi. But he was reassured by the Czech family who would be moving into their house that they would take very good care of him. Karl still spoke of Fiffi well into his elder years.

The family settled in Bad Karlshafen, Hessen, Germany. Karl had fond memories of their first home above the bakery on Karlstraße, and later his father built a house on Eichendorffweg which is still in the family. At 14, Karl left school to begin his apprenticeship as a bricklayer, and at 17, he earned a life-saving certificate and was appointed a volunteer firefighter. In 1956, when he was 20, Karl left Bad Karlshafen to live and work in Hersel near Bonn where his elder sister Anna lived. It was there he met his friend Werner Birkholz (1932-2023) and together they planned an adventure to Canada that would change both of their lives. At the immigration office they were asked where in Canada they wanted to go. They didn’t know. They were advised that Winnipeg needed skilled workers, so they both applied for and had jobs waiting for them in Winnipeg.

On May 16, 1957, Karl and Werner boarded the ship Arosa Sky in Bremerhaven, and on May 23 they landed in Halifax. From there it was a train trip to Winnipeg. Karl somehow became separated from his travel companions and ended up on a train all by himself for four days. He was only 21 years old and he didn’t know a word of English, but he had a letter from his future employer and an address of a boarding house on Dagmar Street.

Karl enrolled for evening English classes at Technical Vocational High School where he met a young German girl who had immigrated to Canada with her family in 1954. Edith was in Grade 3 English, Karl was in Grade 1. He asked her to go with him to the Saturday night dance at the German Club. They married on September 20, 1958. Karl’s first trip back to Bad Karlshafen was with a wife and three children in December 1963 for a three-month visit.

Karl had a successful career in bricklaying and stonemasonry. In 1958 and 1959 his work took him to major building projects in Thompson and Brandon. He was then employed with J. Prall Construction and was a foreman on the construction of many notable buildings in Winnipeg: Grace Hospital (opened 1967), Centennial Concert Hall (opened 1968), Manitoba Planetarium (opened 1968), Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (opened 1970), Winnipeg Art Gallery (opened 1971) where he was photographed for the newspaper with Mayor Stephen Juba laying the cornerstone, Winnipeg Convention Centre (opened 1975), and the stone gates on Pembina Highway at the entrance to the University of Manitoba, just to name a few. He was an expert working with Manitoba’s famous Tyndall stone and glass block.

In 1967, Karl and Edith purchased a wooded lot in Charleswood and Karl built their forever home primarily by himself on evenings and weekends. In October 1968, the family moved from Wolseley into their new home in Charleswood and Karl and Edith have been there ever since. They were presented with an honorary membership at the Charleswood Historical Society’s annual dinner in October 2022 for having lived in the community for more than 50 years. Karl became a board member with the Varsity View Community Club and shovelled snow off of the outdoor rinks by hand during the years when Mike and Andy played community club league hockey. There was no budget for a Zamboni in those days! Karl was also a big fan watching the boys play minor league baseball at the diamond at the end of their street. Judi had always wanted to play piano but Karl couldn’t imagine having to listen to the endless practicing, so he bought her a Yamaha organ on which she practiced for hours with headphones on, and he became her chauffer to weekly music lessons for eight years. All those hours of practice made for wonderful recitals which Karl was proud to listen to.

In the mid-1970s, Karl started his own construction business Karl Gaminek Masonry. He built hundreds of fireplaces and house fronts throughout Winnipeg on his own or subcontracting through major house development companies. He took on several apprentices through those years. He was a perfectionist in his work and was known as a very tough teacher, but was later praised by many of the young men as the best teacher they ever had, and several of them are still in the masonry trade to this day.

Even after he retired, Karl didn’t stop building. He constructed his sons’ homes in Headingley and Anola, and two lake cottages at St. Laurent and Hecla-Grindstone. When he wasn’t building something, he worked in his huge backyard vegetable and flower gardens, enjoyed woodcarving and making willow branch furniture. He loved all birds and animals; the family pets were never far from him. Fatso and Alice sat on his knee each for their 20-year lifetimes.

Karl’s proudest times in life were his grandchildren’s accomplishments. He never missed a hockey practice and travelled anywhere to watch Erik in goal (and Kjersten played too for a little while) and soccer games (Fußball, as Opa called it). Opa attended all of his “babies” primary school choir concerts and plays, recorder and piano recitals, and Kjersten’s dance recitals. Opa loved Erik and Kjersten’s performances in their high school concert bands, jazz bands, and musical plays. But most of all he was proud of their academic accomplishments - high school honour rolls, each of them graduating with A+ Honours, Kjersten’s Scholarship to Brandon University’s School of Music, and Erik’s Gold Medal in highest cumulative grade point average at his Red River College convocation. It gave Opa peace to know that his grandchildren would fare very well in life.

Karl is survived and will be sorrowfully missed by his wife of 66 years, Edith (nee Förster), his daughter Judith, his son Karl Michael (Karen), his son Andreas and daughter-in-law Alexandra; his greatest pride and joy, grandson Erik and granddaughter Kjersten (Brendan O’Dowda), and their mother Kerri (nee Borys) Gaminek; his brother Josef (“Peppi”) and sister-in-law Ute Gaminek, his sister Gerlinde Kummerow, all in Bad Karlshafen, Germany; his sister Erna Smylie in Manchester, England; his sister-in-law Klara Gaminek in Wiggensbach, Germany; and his sister-in-law Gerlinde Fleck Gaminek and brother-in-law Klaus Ulbricht, in Bad Karlshafen; 22 nieces and nephews and their families (36 great-nieces/nephews and 16 great-great-nieces/nephews) in Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands; to several, Karl was their favourite Onkel. From Edith’s family: nephew Bryan Foerster (Michele Frykas), great-nephew and great-niece Dalton and Mikaela Foerster, nephew Darren Foerster, niece Kathleen Foerster, great-nieces Robyn, Samantha (Jason), Allyson (McKenzie) and their father Robert Crang, all in Winnipeg; nephew Ryan Förster in Berlin, Germany; sister-in-law Consuelo Szalaj (Jiozef) in San Pedro, Belize; brother-in-law Ortwin Förster in Montreal; and brothers-in-law Willi Foerster and Harry Foerster (Elaine) in Winnipeg.

Karl was predeceased by his parents Josef and Elisabeth, his sister Gertrud (and her husband Helmut) Scholz, his sister Anna (and her husband Josef) Kramer, his brother Walter Gaminek, his brother Herbert Gaminek, his sister Elisabeth (“Lilo”) Ulbricht, his brother-in-law Peter Kummerow, his niece Cornelia Gaminek, and his great-niece Tessa Werner, all in Germany; and his brother-in-law William Smylie, in England. Karl was also predeceased by Edith’s parents Martin and Hulda (nee Kolewe) Förster, her brother Bruno Robert Foerster, and her sister-in-law Carole Dalton.

Thank you to the Grace Hospital 5N and 5S doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants, especially Ricky, Monique, Breanna, Ken, Jocelyn and student nurse Claire, for their hard-work, patience and compassion in the five weeks Karl was in their care.

There will be no formal service, but Karl would love being thought of with a Prosit or Na Zdravi of Pilsner Urquell or Dortmunder Bier.

Du hast hart gearbeitet und ein gutes, langes Leben geführt.

Ruhe in Frieden, mein Schatz, lieber Dad, liebster Opa.

Wir sehen uns wieder.

Karl’s family kindly requests that all of his friends and relatives take a few minutes to honour his memory by sharing photos, memories, and stories, using the comment section on this page.

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ETHICAL DEATH CARE

Cremation & Life Celebrations

530 St. Mary Avenue - Winnipeg

204-421-5501 - www.ethicaldeathcare.com

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