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| Remembering Peter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Peter was born on Dec. 1, 1940, in Wartorn East Germany. His father was killed in action in 1944, so Peter was raised in a female dominated environment his mother Mutti (pictured here), aunt, Oma, and neighbor. His mother ran a nursery that was started by Peter's father, and she had to singlehandedly rebuild their house after it was burned to the ground. A very strong work ethic was instilled in Peter, and continued throughout his life. Peter ran away to West Germany in 1957, the Berlin Wall went up four years later, and he could no longer return home to his beloved Mutti for fear of arrest. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This picture was taken when Peter was 23, three years before he emigrated to Canada. He became a Canadian citizen and married Jutta a year later. The marriage ended in divorce after seven years, but Peter was, by that time, able to return to his homeland for visits without fear of reprisal. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| He met Bertha in June of 1987, and on Valentine's Day, 1988, they were married (wedding pic left). Peter never had children, which was unfortunate as he was a loving, giving man, always ready to lend a helping hand to anyone in need. |
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| So he and Bertha adopted Willy,
their beloved Schnauzer, who still misses his "Dad." |
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| Peter suffered from lifelong anxiety, fear of being alone, fear
of trying new things, could not handle stress but mostly he
suffered from depression. He began taking medication for
the depression about ten years ago, and couldn't function
without it. His life began to deteriorate about a year before
he died, and finally he gave up his battle on August 12, 2003.
He accomplished so much in spite of his problems, and he
was beloved by so many people who couldn't comprehend
that the Peter they knew and loved would take his own life.
And that is the legacy he left - not the illness that took him away, but the love he left behind. |
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