Dieter Schatzler

SCHATZLER, Dieter - It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden and tragic passing of Dieter Schatzler at the age of 71, on Wednesday, November 16, 2011. Survived by his wife Marilyn for 45 years and children David (Lori), Armin (Kristine) and Katherine. Proud Opa of Chloe (6) and Aleah (3) Keene-Schatzler. Brother of Armin (Christine) of Bruce Mines and Gudrun of Sault Ste. Marie. Brother-in-law of Joyce (Mike) Etherington of Oakville. Loving uncle of Eric (Lorraine) and children, Amy and girls, Nancy Schatzler, Allison Etherington, and Paul (Rachel) Etherington and boys. Student-exchange host father of Caterina Steiner of Cologne, Germany. Missed by his best friend and constant companion *Lola*. Dieter touched the lives of many students through his 34 years of teaching. He instilled and believed in the value of hard work, a love of learning and to strive to do your best. He will be missed for the man he was, cherished for the man he is and remembered for the man he will always be. Friends may call at the Arthur Funeral Home & Cremation Centre on Monday, November 21, 2011 from 6 – 9 pm. Funeral service from Willowgrove United Church on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 3 pm. Rev. Bruce McLeish officiating. Memorial donations to the Willowgrove United Church Capital Fund or the charity of your choice would be appreciated. “This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it-or use it for good, but what I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it! When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain, and not loss; good, and not evil; success, and not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price that I have paid for it.” - Dr. Heartsill Wilson .

Reflection: Deiter Schatzler

When we were married nearly 32 years ago

We were given an embroidered piece with the message

“What you are is God’s gift to you,

What you become is your gift to God.”

I have gone back to that thought from time to time…

I have thought about the fact that we are born

With gifts, talents, intellect, potential

And we are born into an environment, a family, a country

And into that context we bring what God has given.

Some, like the parable in the Bible

Are like seeds that fall on dry ground

Or are carried off by birds,

Others yield as much as a hundred times.

Dieter’s life is a story of great potential,

Of tremendous strength and rich gifts,

It is a story of a life that has been fertile and productive

And has had an abundant yield.

Until a few days ago I had never heard the story of Dieter’s early life

It’s surprising how we can meet a person

Interact with them over the years,

Maybe know their profession

Know their family,

But never know the story behind the life.

I want to thank you, Dieter’s family

For spending the time with me on Saturday evening

As you told the stories

And rolled out the memories

And filled in for me a lot of the blank spaces

In what I had known of Dieter.

Dieter was born into a world that was in chaos

It was Germany, one of those parts of Europe

That over the centuries has belonged first to this country

Then to another

Depending on the wars and conflicts

And how maps were redrawn.

In post war Germany Dieter’s family became

Like many families

“Displaced”

And in those post war years in Europe

Life was a constant struggle

Food was scarce

There was little or no sense of stability

And the world must not have felt

Either welcoming or safe.

Such a beginning put many people at a disadvantage

From which they would never fully recover.

But Dieter not only overcame, but he excelled

In the new land to which his family came.

In 1952 if I have the details straight

His mother brought the children

To join his father who had come before.

They were in Virginiatown

Near Kirkland Lake.

Graduated form School, went on to Teacher’s college

And had a long and successful career

First in Elliot Lake

And then here

At Parkland

Dacey

And Prince Charles.

If I were a gambler, I would bet that the things we would see

In Dieter

Are the qualities that enabled him

To achieve the successes we all saw and admired.

We have known him as a man of many talents

Creative talents

And avid photographer

His work was on a par with professionals

He was adamant about using film

Rather than digital

Perhaps because of the challenge

Maybe, too, because of the creative possibilities

His family told me his favourite subjects

Marilyn, Dogs, and nature

And I’d bet, it was in that order.

He could write beautifully

There is a poem which he wrote for Marilyn

Which captures what was in his heart

In words that convey such a deep love.

They tell me he never tired of telling Marilyn she looked good

Or paying her a timely compliment.

The rest of us husbands could learn from that.

He had a great way with words

And anyone who has ever played scrabble with him

Will know what a challenge they had before them.

I didn’t know until you told me that “yo” was a word

I looked it up

It is an interjection

Used as a greeting

Considered informal

He loved the outdoors

And had a great feeling for nature

Whether it was hiking

Or taking a snow machine out to get a Christmas tree

Which would always include building a fire

And roasting hot dogs

And would probably end with a snowball fight.

And camping was a big part of family vacation time.

I didn’t know before, but he was a great cook

Or more specifically loved to do preserves

He made sauerkraut

And pickles, which were labelled according

To connections with the people in his life

Lori’s pickles

and there is a wonderful story of a school lunch he made

for Katherine

ask her to tell you about the nibble marks

Dieter loved sports

And was an athlete in his own right

He curled

Played hockey

Soccer,

Canoed, and, with Armin’s help

And a big rock

Could flip a canoe as fast as anyone.

But I think the biggest and most evident gift he had

Was the love in his heart.

Marilyn, you have had a wonderful life together

Made a home

Raised a family to be greatly proud of.

You travelled together

Danced together

raised your children

And watched your grandchildren come into the world

For you David, Armin, Katherine

What a great example you had

Seeing the strength of his intellect

And his ability to see things with his own vision

And to

Walk off the beaten path literally and metaphorically.

Those are great lessons.

And to see the playfulness in him

Building things

With mechano sets

Or putting together model trains

Or laughing at the “trickster” side of him.

We are all saddened by his passing,

By the suddenness

And perhaps the sense of unfairness.

We would have hoped that he had many years yet before him.

George Carlin

Speaking about the length of life

“It’s not the number of breaths you take

But the moments that take your breath away.”

There are a of things in Dieter’s life

To take our breath away.

A life that was all to short

But years that were full

And abundant.

Human life is fragile

We know that in our heads

But it’s difficult to accept that in our hearts.

All the more reason to learn from Dieter’s life

To accomplish great things

To learn new things

To play and laugh

To find challenges, to create

And to tell our wives they’re beautiful

And to tell our children we love them.

Jesus said that he came that we may have life

And have it more abundantly.

What a great promise.

So, too, he promised that the world we see

Is not all there is

But that there is a place beyond this world

A place prepared for each of us…

That life is not confined to this world

That love is eternal

And death cannot separate us from

The love of God

Nor the love of one another.

Remember Dieter

Receive the gift that is the lessons we learn from his life

Remember

And be thankful,

Words from the service for Dieter Schatzler by Rev. Bruce McLeish