Manfred (Monty) Savinsky
With deepest sadness, we announce Manfred Gustav Wilhelm Savinsky passed away peacefully with his family at his side, Sunday, February 11, 2018. He was a month short of his 88th birthday. Manfred, who was fondly known by most as ‘Monty’, died at the Margaret Bahen Hospice in Newmarket, Ontario following a nine-month battle with pleural mesothelioma, a rare cancer contracted from exposure to asbestos.
Monty was born on March 14, 1930 in Berlin, Germany. He grew up on the small Island of Amrum, located in the North Sea, just off the northwest coast of Germany, and south of the Danish border. At an early age he had a strong passion for music and with only a few years of lessons, he learned to play the violin, French horn, and piano and taught himself how to play the accordion. At 15, he was playing at dances with his father, who was a professional musician and violin teacher, and loved to perform music for others.
At the end of WWII, his dreams of becoming a professional musician ended and a more practical profession had to be chosen. He graduated from the watchmaker’s school in Hamburg, Germany and would later on obtain his diploma as a certified jeweller from the Canadian Jewellers Institute.
He met his sweetheart, Waltraut Kienscherf (affectionately known as Trudy) in 1952 while working in Eutin (oy-teen) where he saw her perform in a play on stage. He was instantly smitten and determined to meet her so he hung around the theatre looking for her. It wasn’t long before his charm, sense of humour, and musical talent won her over. They courted for two years before he had found an opportunity to make money in Canada.
At that time, Germany was trying to rebuild, and offered an exchange of 7 DM for every Canadian dollar he brought back. His plan was to work for two years and hope that Trudy would wait for him. So in June 1954, at the age of 24, he left Germany to seek his fortune in Canada. He was sponsored by his mother’s cousins, Walter and Henry Peters, who lived in Rainy River, Ontario. After three days in Canada, he landed a job as a watchmaker at Brockie’s Jewellers, in Fort Frances, Ontario, where he was first nicknamed ‘Monty’. After an entire year of sending love letters every week to Trudy, he finally asked her to marry him. He returned to Germany for their wedding on September 24, 1955 and they had their honeymoon on a ship back to Canada where he promised they would only stay for two more years.
In 1956, they had their first child, Hark, born in Fort Frances, and in April 1957 they moved to Atikokan and opened their own jewellery and gift store, Monty’s Jewellers Limited. At the time, they were in competition with about five other jewellery stores, so they weren’t sure of their success. It was Trudy’s good taste in merchandise and Monty’s repair services that secured their future. Most of their sales came from sizing rings and repairing watches and since Monty was a CN watch inspector, many railroad workers came to him to make sure their pocket watches were on time. Trudy and Monty worked side by side in their store for over 38 years, in which time the store relocated three times, from a small store on Gorrie Street, to 205 Main Street (next to Walt’s Dry Goods) and then into the Voyageur Mall (now Celestial Gold). Monty loved living in Atikokan and adored the people of his community.
Their family continued to grow with the birth of their first daughter, Monika, in 1958, and later Connie, in 1964. Monty loved being a father and always held his family as priority. He made sure that every Sunday was devoted to family time. It became a tradition that following church, they would go on an outdoor adventure either to Nym Lake, Eye Lake, or French Lake (Quetico Provincial Park) for picnics, swimming, nature hikes, or to go camping on long weekends. He often took his family and friends on fishing trips to Finlayson Lake. He loved the fall colours of Canada, and they would go for long walks along the railroad tracks or on the highway to see how far the road to Fort Frances had been built. In winter, they went skiing (both downhill and cross-country), tobogganing or snowshoeing in the deep snow. Always on a Sunday and always with coffee and cake at 3 o’clock sharp; the most important meal of the day.
In May of 1975, they purchased and added on to a cabin at Factor Lake which in June of 1978 was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. Being a jack-of-all-trades, Monty rebuilt their cabin on Sundays with the help of his family. The cabin became his favourite place to be.
Monty and Trudy retired in November of 1995. To be closer to their children and grandchildren, they moved to Uxbridge in 1999 and Newmarket in 2014, during which they were members of the Christ Lutheran Church and made many new friends. Even so, they never missed a summer in Atikokan at the cabin.
Monty loved music. He joined a band in Atikokan and played at community dances. He loved to play the piano and his music filled their home and hearts. He often played the church organ in Atikokan, both at the Calvary and Faith Lutheran Churches, and for years was the church’s choir director. Even in his final days, his keyboard came with him to his hospice room and he played his final concert for family, friends, and staff.
Monty is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Trudy, his children, Hark, Monika, and Connie Amin (Farshad) and grandchildren, Derek, Alex, Kimberly (Pearce), Braden and Sabrina (Amin). In Germany, his brother, Harry Savinsky (Brigitte), his nieces (Kirsten, Heike, Birgid, Carmen, Marie-Claire), nephews (Rainer, Jochen, Oliver, Frank and Phillip) and their children, as well as his in-laws (Regina, Siegfried, Venonique, Elfi, Helmut) and numerous cousins.
A celebration of Monty’s Life will be held at the Christ Lutheran Church in Aurora, Ontario on Monday, February 26. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that a donation be made to either the Margaret Bahen Hospice, Stronach Regional Cancer Clinic (both in Newmarket) or the Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church. Online condolences may be made at www.TaylorFH.ca.
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