Olaf Beck

May 11, 1938 - August 6, 2019

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Beck, Olaf Herbert- After a sudden illness, Olaf Beck of Chatsworth, passed at Grey-Bruce Health Services- Owen Sound, on August 6, 2019, at age 81. He is survived by his dear wife of 45 years, Elizabeth (nee Szatkowska) and sons Andrew (Rebecca) of Ottawa, and Arthur of Toronto. Loving grandpa to Violet and Oliver. Also survived by his siblings Barbara Ray, Gisela Koppe, Hans Juergen Beck, Fredericka Wörner, Margaret Würth, and Uwe Beck. Predeceased by his parents, Herbert and Marie Beck (nee Biehayn), and by his siblings Elizabeth Zander, Hans Joachim Beck, Christian Beck, Wolf Dieter Beck, and Rosemarie Stäblein.

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Olaf was born in Pfaffendorf Germany in 1938 to Marie and Herbert Beck .  He was the 11th of 12 children.  Although he never spoke much about those early years, he fondly reminisced about the family farm and the adventures he shared with his siblings, friends and their mules Morris and Felix.  When not up to hijinx in class with his brother Uwe, Olaf was a good student and would later go on to study agriculture in college. 

 

Although he served for the West German Army, he knew it wasn’t for him.  So in 1965 he applied to immigrate to Canada and arrived in Montreal later that fall.  Like any good German, he headed straight to Kitchener where he would find work as a brick layer. 

 

Years later, as a favour to a friend, he went to pick up a young Polish girl for a dinner party.  They fell in love and married two years later.  In 1974 he purchased a rickety old house in Owen Sound and made it a home for his wife Elizabeth and their two boys Andrew and Arthur, whom he adored.  Nothing was more important to Olaf than his boys. 

 

Olaf loved to build and create. He could seemingly build anything and would never say no to helping out a friend or neighbour  with their “little” project.  

 

His passion was to work, at anything, but he also enjoyed socializing with neighbors, raising his ornamental game birds and exploring lakes and rivers in one of his handmade canoes.   Those may have been his passions, but nothing made him happier than playing with his two grandchildren Violet and Oliver. 

 

Olaf may no longer be with us, but he has undoubtedly left his mark on the community where he lived and worked, as well as in the hearts of family and friends for whom he cared. 

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Cremation has taken place and arrangements entrusted to GARAFRAXA HILL FUNERAL HOME, Chatsworth. A Celebration of Life service for Olaf will be held on Saturday August 17,  from 1:00 - 4:00 pm, in the funeral home chapel. If desired, donations to the Heart & Stroke Foundation would be appreciated by the family. Condolences may be expressed online at www.garafraxahillfuneral.com

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