Mr. Christian Schinagl

My Father, My Business Partner, My Friend

My father Christian was born in Hungary on July 23, 1920 and as a young boy he helped in his grandfather's bakery. In his early teens, he decided that he wanted to become a carpenter, so he learned the trade and worked on projects in and around the town and as far away as Vienna, Austria.

After courting my mother Frances they married in February 1940. He built his first house for his family on a hill overlooking a lake within sight of Austria. They had a little girl, Frances who sadly died in her second year.

When the war came Christian was a Sergeant in the Hungarian Army. Thankfully he made it through the war with only shrapnel wounds. I was born on March 24, 1946 as the war was coming to an end. Hungary was seized by the communists at the end of the war and because my father wanted nothing to do with communism my parents were forced out of their home and out of the country with only what they could carry. I was two weeks old.

As refugees my parents ended up in a small town in Germany, and because of his skills in construction, he worked in a lumber mill for a construction firm. My father was hard working and ambitious. It wasn't long before he was the right hand man for the owner of the mill, built a new home for his family and became an alderman in the town.

By 1954 he came to the realization that he wanted more out of life, and since there wasn't much hope of getting any further in Germany, he decided that he would emigrate to Canada in the hopes of building a better life for his family. My father, my mother, uncle Mike Bauer and I arrived in Canada July of 1954 with two suitcases and less than $200. We knew no one here and spoke no English. I was eight years old at the time and I can remember sitting on the suitcases at Union Station with my mother while my father and Mike walked to the German Catholic Church to ask for help. The priest found us a second floor flat to rent, and helped my father get a job as a carpenter for about ten cents per hour. As a hard working man he soon became the foreman on the job. This was the third time that he started from scratch. Both my parents worked hard and saved every penny, and on March 15, 1957 they had saved enough to buy their first house in Canada. From here my father started his own construction business as a custom builder and worked out of a small two car garage. As the business grew he was looking for a house in the country where he could have a real woodworking shop. In 1964 he found and bought his dream home with a shop at 4 Essex Ave., Thornhill. This property remained his home for the rest of his life.

My father took me to construction sites during weekends and summer holidays from the time that I was 12 years old. He had me doing all kinds of odd jobs, and he taught me about the construction business.

My father never forgot his roots, and he flew back to Europe to visit relatives and friends almost every year since he came to Canada. In the early years I was always with them on these vacations, and I learned the importance of staying in touch with family and friends. By the time I was about 16 years old he had enough trust and faith in me that he made me vice-president of his construction company, and he left me in charge of the job sites and the payrolls. At the time, many of his customers couldn't understand how he could just leave his business to visit with his European family for four to six weeks at a time, when he could have been here making money. My fathers family and friends were always more important to him than the money.

My parents enjoyed globe trotting, they traveled the world together. Over the years they traveled to many exotic destinations such as Australia, Singapore, Spain, Hong Kong, Hawaii and Israel. They knew how important it was to take the time together and enjoy the fruits of their labours. My father often treated my mother to beautiful jewelery and other special tokens of his love for her. They were truly devoted to each other, and shared a very special bond.

I married Ingrid in 1968. My parents had just purchased the house next door and they let us move in, and this is where we raised our children, Steven and Lisa. He was very happy to have me with my family always around him. We shared many meals together, and he enjoyed many celebrations of birthdays and holidays with us and his grand kids (Steven & Lisa) and great grand kids ( Mackenzie, Jordan, Liam and Luke).

Our office was in his home, and we worked together every day taking care of our business. Working with him over the years we have always been very close in business and as a family. He taught me many things about life and how to deal with people in business. Together we built our leasing business to where it is today. When my son Steven came back from up north with Martha and their daughter Jordan, my father helped him to get back into the family and into our business, and he loved to see me working together with my son. He was a proud and happy man.

In 1998 Ingrid and I purchased a wonderful piece of property just outside Newmarket, and he was somewhat upset when he found out that we would be building a new house and moving away sometime in the next few years. As it turned out we did build a house, and he help us in every way possible. Being a master at building staircases, he single handedly built several beautiful staircases for us. Our new house with it's beautiful grounds was always a great joy to him.

At the age of about seventy Christian learned how to use a computer, and he worked full time in the office doing the computer entries for our four companies, paying the bills on the Internet and doing the banking and the payrolls. In the summer of 2007 he taught my daughter Lisa how to do his job so he could have his worn out knees replaced. He was so happy with Lisa's work he decided that the job was now hers full time. In his last year he spent many hours keeping Lisa company in the office.

After he recovered from his knee operation, Ingrid, my cousin Trudy, and I took him to Europe to visit with his European family and friends. He was so happy that he was able to spend time with his brother and other relatives and friends one more time. When we got back from Europe he couldn't stop talking about it.

My mother developed Alzheimer's in about 1992 and my father soon had to take care of her and do the shopping, cooking, cleaning, and laundry. You could see that he took care of her with love, and he always said that he didn't mind because she took such good care of him for so many years. As it turned out he took care of my mother and all the household chores and still managed to get his office work done. My father was able to take care of my mother at home for about 12 years until her Alzheimer's became far too advanced for him to handle alone. We had no alternative but to place her in the care of a nursing home. My mother has now been in a nursing home for about four years, and until he had his knees replaced he would drive to the nursing home to feed her and visit with her for hours nearly every day. All the staff at the nursing home knew him and were amazed at the love and dedication he had for my mother.

Christian was a kind and generous man who was loved and admired by all who knew him. Christian passed away on December 16th, 2008 and he will be sadly missed by many.

Written by his loving son Albert.

Passed away suddenly on December 16, 2008 in his 89th year. Will be sadly missed by his wife Frances, son Albert (Ingrid), grandson Steven (Martha), granddaughter Lisa (Mark) and great grandchildren Mackenzie, Jordan, Liam and Luke as well as other family and friends. Visitation on Friday December 19th from 2-4 and 6-8 pm. at Jerrett Vaughan Chapel, 8088 Yonge St. (just south of Hwy.#7) Thornhill. Burial Mass on Saturday December 20th at 12 noon at St. Lukes Catholic Church, 39 Green Lane, Thornhill. Entombment to follow at Holy Cross Cemetery. Condolences and tributes may be made at www.mem.com.