Willi Haukenfrers

March 4th, 1938 - November 6th, 2024

Willi Haukenfrers was born in Oldenburg, Germany in 1938 without a middle name. He spent his early childhood years during World War II playing outside with his brother, Walter. They would hear and see huge swaths of bombers fly overhead. Occasionally, he would have a close encounter with the war and received a small shrapnel wound on his hand that left a lifelong scar.

He fondly remembers the Canadian soldiers who liberated Oldenburg and handed out chocolate. After the war, his older brothers eventually made their way to Canada and he longed to follow. In 1954, at age 16, his family crossed the Atlantic and landed in Halifax. They made their way to Edmonton on the rails behind a steam locomotive.

He soon got a job working at a seed plant packing 100 lb bags of seed. He was involved in the local Baptist church and youth group where he loved to sing. He also had a job driving new trucks from Ontario to Alberta. The trucks were stacked one on top of the other in such a way that he could not back up the entire trip.

One summer, he went to a singles camp at Sylvan Lake Bible Camp in Sylvan Lake where he met his future wife, Frieda Lüllau. After getting married and settling in Edmonton, they had their first son, Norbert.

Shortly after, they moved to Vernon, B.C. to join Willi’s father-in-law in the construction business. Willi became a skilled carpenter. After a few years, he started his own construction company, Willi Developments. Things were booming in Vernon in those days. Here, the rest of his children were born - Reinhardt, Heidi, and Helen.

He built his family a beautiful home on an apple orchard. Not long after, he suffered a severe back injury when a worker with whom he was lifting a wall, dropped the wall. He spent several months in a back rehabilitation program in Vancouver.

No longer able to do construction, he took a job in Dawson Creek, managing a grain elevator. Using his hard work and negotiating skills, he quickly doubled and then tripled throughput.

Every summer, he would take his family on a long vacation: across Canada to Niagara Falls or Prince Edward Island, or to Florida, Arizona, or California. All the vacations were done in the car as he loved to get behind the wheel of the 1980 Colony Park station wagon when the whole family was inside.

He moved on to selling Electrolux vacuum cleaners, something for which he had a talent. He loved talking with people and he loved making deals.

By this time, his first marriage had ended. He spent some years working in Whitehorse and later in New Westminster. There he met Ruth Wenham at the Baptist church. They married in December of 1990 during a rare lower mainland snowstorm. This added Ruth’s two daughters Marie and Katherine to his family.

Upon retirement, Willi and Ruth moved to Wetaskiwin to be closer to family. Here he lived out his last years. As always, he prioritized family.

After 86 years, Willi breathed his last on November 6th, 2024.

His wife Ruth; their children, Norbert (Teresa), Reinhardt (Joanne), Heidi (Jeff), Helen (Sean), Marie (Trevor), and Katherine (Sheldon); their grandchildren, Jasohna, Ellora, Joshua, Mikayla, Samuel, Jared, Sierra, Hailey, Joel, Hannah, Chloe, Seleah, Soren, Jacob, Amelia, Alannah, Megan, Grace, James, Charlotte, Lindsey, Emily, Braeden, Caleb, Noah, and Joshua; his great-grandchildren Fable and Oliver; his brothers, Walter and Werner, and the rest of the family will miss him.

Willi is predeceased by his parents, Hermann and Johanne; his brothers, Henry, Herman, Manfred and Hans; and his sisters, Martha, Elfrieda, and Annie.

May he rest in peace.

A Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 13th, 2024, at Calvary Baptist Church, Wetaskiwin.

Interment will take place at Calvary Baptist Church Cemetery, Wetaskiwin.

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