Most everyone knew him as either Toni or Opa Bosch, but he was born as Anton Bosch in Dietfurt, Germany on September 9, 1929. Toni passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home at the Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre on April 4. Our family would like to extend our sincere thanks to the incredible staff at Simkin Centre who made this place his home.
He was predeceased by his wife Berta (née Tober), his parents Konrad and Brigitte Bosch(née Rebholz), as well as, four brothers; Otto, Fritz, Alois, Josef and two sisters; Leni and Monika.
He is survived by his daughter Inge (Erich), grandchildren Steven (Natalie), Susan (Amir) and Sylvia, and eight great-grandchildren Sarah, Jacob, Trinity, Saarah, Hamza, Raniah, Malik, and Layth, as well as, sisters in law, Elsa Tober, Johanna Muhl and Helga Bosch.
He met the love of his life, Berta, in Germany and they were married to each other for an incredible 54 years. He was a wonderfully gentle, kind and caring husband, father, and grandfather.
Toni and Berta immigrated with their daughter, Inge, to Canada in September, 1957 on the Europa-Canada Linie M/S Seven Seas. They left with hopes of greater opportunity to work and a better life, leaving the home they had always known, not knowing if they would ever see it again. Many people were getting seasick on the journey, but not Toni. He shared his secret - alcohol. He swore that having a beer a day on the ship saved him from any impact of motion sickness. Toni loved Canada, and whenever he related the story of immigrating to Canada, he would state, “I never regretted that decision - not one single day did I ever regret it.”
Toni worked in Canada as a shoemaker at Greb Shoes and Canada West Shoes until his retirement. His strong, leathery hands would look and smell like shoe leather and his grandchildren would marvel at how strong, yet tender and kind he always was.Toni was a real-life gentle giant to them.
Toni was incredibly hard-working and skilled. In the 1970s, he worked with his daughter Inge and son-in-law Erich to build a multi-story cottage on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Toni enjoyed the outdoors, including fishing and hunting - but those activities were more about getting out in nature, than catching anything. Many years later, Toni and Berta built their retirement house on an acreage just outside of Winnipeg. Together they maintained a vast vegetable garden, providing fresh produce to family and friends.
When Toni made a decision, he stuck to it. Although he started smoking cigarettes at the age of 14, having smoked everyday for 48 years, he quit cold turkey. When asked how he did that and if it was difficult, he casually mentioned that he was at the mall one day and saw some young kids smoking and thought to himself, is that what I look like? That was all it took!
Toni was a sports fan and loved to watch his home team the Winnipeg Blue Bombers play. He was an incredibly pragmatic fan. His support for the team never veered, but he would not hold back any criticism when they did not perform well or didn’t deserve the win. His characteristic German accent would come through whenever he mentioned the team name, clearly pronouncing all the letter B’s as the “Blue Bom-Bers”. It is satisfying that Toni was able to see his Bombers become back to back Grey Cup champions.
Toni loved all genres of music. He was also a voracious reader, reading the newspaper, Reader’s Digest and novels in both English and German. It didn’t matter what. He loved to read it all.
Toni loved the staff and residents at Simkin Centre. He enjoyed participating in activities, including bingo and table bowling for which he won several awards and trophies.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 23 at 2:30 pm at Joy Lutheran Church; 50 Barnes Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Wearing masks is required.
We greatly appreciate everyone's love and support during this time.
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