Gisbert Snethlage
1929 - 2024
Gisbert Alfred Viktor Emil Snethlage was born in München-Gladbach Germany on December 21st 1929.
Opa was the oldest of 7 siblings and son of a doctor and homemaker. He grew up during a tumultuous time in Germany and in 1956 had the opportunity to visit Canada. He was only supposed to stay for 6 months. He had come for adventure and to see how others lived. He we set to return home when he met Gudrun. He heard her singing at the German Christian Endeavor Church and fell in love, spending 67 years with his wife. Opa was fascinated by engineering and had earned his engineering degree in Germany. In Canada no one would accept his credentials. He was forced to work in factories like CMC and Babcock Dahmer Steel as a result. He eventually become a Corrections officer in Guelph where he recognized qualities in people he did not want dating his grandchildren. Once he retired from the prison, he took over as the shipper for Gudruns craft business, All things beautiful. Once the business was sold, he was able to admire his well cared for home, gardens and bird feeders. He enjoyed the family cottage where mountains of memories were made with the family. He loved spending time with the grand children. He would get out the Bickies before their arrival and play on the floor playing with them, show them how to climb the tree in the front yard, or show them where the sweets were hiding. Opa would often open his home to kids and grandkids who needed a place to live while they got things sorted out.
Gisbert was capable of having an intimidating presence. This went away as soon as you started speaking to him. He would size you up first based on your stature, occupation and use of the imperial system. It wouldn’t take long for him to point out your flaws, tell you to fix them and then he fully accepted you in his heart as family. You would know you were accepted based on his offerings of chocolate, ice cream and hugs. What drew you to Gisbert was his directness, you never had to guess how he felt about you. There was a peace in this because you knew that he also loved you. He was always intrigued in your life. There was never a gathering where he would forget to ask you how you are doing, and would reject any casual response like “fine” or “good” or “okay”. He wanted to know how your work was, and what you did. “I work in computers” wasn’t enough, he wanted to know that you imported financial data and then pressed the grey button that sent it to your colleague Steve who then printed it and collated it. Where would that data be stored, what did Steve do with it, and was he a good person. You could talk to him for hours before you realized that you had talked about the global economy, the colour of his minivan, the quality of North American chocolate and the entitled attitude of the backyard tree squirrels.
Gisbert’s curiosity in people was a reflection of his heart. He taught his kids to love the unlovable, admire the unsightly, and be kind to the forgotten. He taught his grandkids to love the sun and water and neatly raked sand. He taught all of us the value of a dollar by packing ice cream in a cooler on our beach days, because the ice cream store was too expensive. He kept his love of engineering apparent throughout his life as he taught every family member that nothing had enough oil on it and everything could be brought back to life with a bit of grease. While we can’t bring Opa back with a little oil today, his legacy will live on in the abundance of the treasured memories we all carry.
Cremation has taken place. A Memorial Service will be held at Trinity Evangelical Missionary Church, 330 Conservation Drive Waterloo, Saturday January 11, 2025 at 11 am. Reception to follow in Church fellowship hall.
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In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Innisfree House as expressions of sympathy.
Messages and condolences may be left for the family at www.tricitycremations.com or 519.772.1237. Please visit Gisbert’s obituary notice on Facebook.