Hans–Joachim Wilhelm was born Wednesday February, 9 1944 in Germany to Philipp Wilhelm “Willi” and “Erna” Emma (Preuss) May in Groß-Krauscha a small German village just north of the city of Gorlitz, on the border between Germany and Poland. John or “Achim” as he was affectionately called, was the younger brother to Eva Marianne, born January 20, 1940 in the village of Deutsch-Ossig, just south of Görlitz.
In John’s possession was a beautifully carved wood plaque depicting scenes of Görlitz, Germany’s easternmost city situated on the River Neisse some178 km southeast of Berlin. As infants, both Eva and John were baptized in the Lutheran faith of their mother at the parish church in Deutsch-Ossig.
At the insistence of their father’s staunchly Roman Catholic family, both were later – Eva in 1943, and John in 1950 – “re-baptized” in the Catholic faith (sub-conditione i.e. “conditionally” according to their baptismal certificates).
Interestingly enough, on the day John was born; German troops began operations to relieve the Korsun/ Cherkassy pocket in Ukraine and were penetrating Allied lines at the Anzio beachhead in Italy. It was a tumultuous time to say the least. Back in North America, William Lyon Mackenzie King was prime minister of Canada, Franklin D. Roosevelt was president of the U.S. and “The Uninvited,” directed by Lewis Allen, was one of the most viewed movies released in that same year.
During the war, John’s father was taken prisoner in 1944 by the Americans in France and transferred to a POW camp in South Carolina, near Charleston. Two years later he was returned to a POW camp in France. From France he escaped to Germany in late 1946 and was recaptured, this time by the British, in January 1947. In April 1947 he was released. The May family left the Soviet Occupation Zone (which became East Germany on October 7, 1949) in January 1948 for West Germany. Here they lived with Willi’s sister and her family in the village of Bamenohl near Finnentrop, Westfalia towards the Belgium and Netherlands borders.
In 1952, with the sponsorship of John’s uncle, Willi’s younger brother Hans (John), who had immigrated to Canada two years earlier, the May family left Germany to embark on an arduous eleven day ocean voyage to Canada. They traveled in the discomfort and overcrowded conditions of steerage accommodation on a small vessel, the SS Arosa Kulm.
The SS Arosa Kulm was launched as a U.S. Army Transport in 1920 and was sold for scrapping in Belgium in 1959. It was the only one of eight ships to survive World War II to re-enter passenger service. A year later, in 1947 it was refitted to include over 765 more berths. The accommodations were probably the worst of any ship of that time. In 1952 the accommodations were adjusted to 900 and she was renamed Arosa Kulm.
During the rough crossing, most of the passengers endured bouts of severe sea-sickness. Of the May family, eight year old Achim was particularly ill and needed his mother’s constant care. Only twelve year old Eva, who spent most of her time in the cold fresh air on deck, was spared.
On August 10th when the lights of Quebec City Harbour finally came into view, cheers of relief and joy erupted from all who had gathered at the ship’s railing in anticipation.
The family settled in Kitchener, a large hub of German speaking folk, once known as Berlin. John attended school at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Kitchener. In 1953, John took his first communion at St. Mary’s. John and Eva’s younger brother Michael Philip was born in Kitchener, May 27, 1957. Although John was very bright, he hated school, especially mathematics, and attended only until grade nine. He was a shy boy and it is said that in school he was teased for his accent. Subsequently, he quickly became adept at hiding his accent and having near perfect English grammar.
At the tender age of nineteen, John married Rita Mary Adele Jodouin at St. Pierre Apôtre Roman Catholic Church in North Bay. It was May 18, 1963. From this union came two sons, David and Kevin. Being both married and separated as a young man, John was not in their lives much. Then John met Angeline Fern Schiedel through a cousin of Angie’s. He gave her a ride home and the rest is history.
John worked a variety of jobs. He welded office chairs at Derner’s and then worked at Square D fabricating large electrical boxes for Hydro. It was there that both he and Angie read blue-prints as part of their work. The latter John did until the mid-1990s. He and Angie moved north to Meaford, then to this area and have been here since. For the last eleven years, they have lived in Elmwood.
John really enjoyed going to garage sales, playing with electronics, nature and just driving around. John, however, did not just play around with electronics. He was really good at them! For years, he and Angie would DJ for friends at weddings and dances. He had even built a DJ table for Larry. He also did his fair share of videotaping weddings! He loved his reel-to-reel. It is a distinct possibility that John received his electronic capability from his father who was fantastic at repairing stoves and appliances. Tinkering was John’s middle name – not really – but he sure did like to putter all the time. It was important to John to always be doing something.
John loved to both walk and talk. Perhaps not at the same time, however. John walked all the time, every-where. He was a familiar sight in Elmwood with his bedroom slippers and hat on. He had an answer and solution for everything.
And even though he loved to film weddings and loved to DJ, he never did like to dance. He surely supported Angie, however, when she went line-dancing. He would get all dressed up and go with her, just to sit at the side-lines and watch! Even though john loved to walk, he also didn’t mind driving. However, he did make a terrible passenger.
John’s drink of choice you might ask. Ginger-ale, of course! John’s choice of food? Potatoes, of course. Fried potatoes and onions were even better! But then there were the pickles he so loved, as well as bread and sugar. Sharing raw peas (as well as Chapman’s Lolly’s and chocolate ice cream) with their neighbour’s daughter, Willow, was an all-time favourite activity. John could be very generous with his treats! It is interesting to note also that John seldom drank alcohol and never smoked.
Now, there was also John’s predilection for ducks. Yes, you read correctly. John gave every baby in the family some kind of duck (pillow, blanket or stuffed) and he would often sneak up behind someone and make duck quacking noises. The kids loved it! (Not so much the adults, though!) John had all the patience in the world for children.
It probably would not surprise anyone that given his German birth and ancestry that he was stubborn, determined and a perfectionist. Yet at the same time, he was protective, kind-hearted and considerate. John would give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it! John had a great knack for picking the perfect greeting card to give someone. In fact, he was so good at it that he picked the same card for Angie three years in a row! The cards could express John’s love that he could not find his own words for.
John’s mother was Lutheran and his father Roman Catholic. John was raised R.C.. However, his congregation of choice was the great outdoors. How he loved nature. He never prevented Angie from being a part of a faith community and he even encouraged her attendance, stating that he always had a better week when she went to church. Together they would attend services at Christmas and Easter.
The last couple of decades have been tough for John, medically. He was first diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a rare chronic autoimmune disease marked by muscular weakness without atrophy. He then had gout, stomach ulcers, an enlarged heart and lungs, and recently an aneurism. His tremendous decline in health changed John and he became irritable and agitated. Of course, how could he not?
Sadly, John died before he could see the heart specialist at St. Mary’s in Kitchener. He passed away suddenly at his home in Elmwood on Saturday, January 21, 2017 in his 73rd year. Beloved husband and best friend of Angeline Schiedel. John will be missed by his sons David and Kevin May, Larry Schiedel and their families. Loving brother of Eva (Bill) Trace of Don Mills and Michael May of Puslinch. Brother-in-law of William “Bill” (Marilyn) Quast of Edmonton and Robert Quast and Sandy of Seaforth. John will be missed by his nieces and nephews, as well as his many near and dear friends in Elmwood. He was predeceased by his parents, Wilhelm and Erna (Preuss) May and his sister-in-law Sonja Quast.
Visitation will be held at Rhody Family Funeral Home, Chesley on Saturday, February 11, 2017 from 1 p.m. until the time of the memorial service at 2 p.m.
Memorial donations to the Heart & Stroke Foundation would be appreciated as expressions of sympathy.
