Bernard Louis Kanzler

Bernard (Bernie) Louis Kanzler, 78, of Lancaster, Virginia, passed away on January 26, 2020 in home hospice care with his family by his side. He was born March 20, 1941, in Glen Burnie, Maryland, to Louis Roettger Kanzler and Margaret Lucille Colbert.

He grew up in Greenbelt, Maryland, and attended Lutheran primary school, then Bladensburg High School. He studied finance at the University of Maryland College Park, as the first college graduate in his family. He also studied several years of law at Georgetown University, but ultimately took a different career path. When he retired, he was working as a Financial Manager for the Federal General Services Administration (GSA) in Washington, DC.

Bernie deeply valued freedom and adventure in life. He was a motorcyclist, a sailor, a kayaker, a scuba diver, a paratrooper, a pilot, and a traveler. Some of his adventures included riding his motorcycle across the United States, scuba diving in the Caribbean, traveling around South America onboard a container ship, and starting a family homestead in the Shenandoah mountains, where his daughters were born.

He was a lifelong learner who thrilled in solving problems, enjoying political discourse, sudoku, chess, and other brain puzzles. He put his physical and mental energy towards a constant stream of projects in and around his property in the Northern Neck of Virginia. Other sources of fun included playing with his grandchildren and long talks with friends and family filled with laughter, challenging debate, and sage advice.

Bernie is survived by his sister, Sandra Joan Wright, his two daughters, Julie Kanzler Dang and Jennifer Kanzler, two sons-in-law, Tri Dang and Abram Lynch, and three grandchildren, Irving, Eko and Sylvia. He was preceded in death by his brother, Gordon Kanzler, half-sister, Jacqueline Parrish, and former spouses, Maria McReynolds and Erika Kanzler.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11:00 am on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at National Funeral Home in Falls Church, Virginia. An additional remembrance event is planned for Saturday, April 4, 2020 near his home in Heritage Point, Lancaster, Virginia.