Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Werner Martin Diefenbach Jan 26, 1932 - July 7, 2018
Born on January 26th, 1932, in Leipzig, East Germany, Werner "Dief" has had a very long and adventurous life. As a young boy he was one of those children that hated school and would often arrive late and smelling like the horses he had snuck off to ride with the Monguls. Because of this the school teacher would often punish him. Apparently Dief complained to the Monguls about this mistreatment and they showed up and gave his teacher a talking to and from then on he was left alone. During those years his mother, Rosa, also sent him to school with bottles of milk with a nipple which made him feel like a baby. This is how he developed his complete distaste of milk. Anyone who observed him later in life would only see him eat cereal with coffee or orange juice poured in it. During those days, you would also often see Dief, and his brother, Gunther, walking the railway tracks looking for coal or sneaking into farmers fields to grab some food to bring home for their tables. Alternatively they would be heading into the bomb shelters when the alarms would sound, after all, he was only 7 when the war started.
By the time Dief was 14 he was apprenticed to a door and sash journeyman and already understood that staying in East Germany was not what he wanted for himself, he had much bigger plans. Somehow, at the age of 16, he managed to slip through the border into West Germany where he found work on farms, then a job trucking, as well as in the mining industry prior to emigrating from Germany to Canada in 1956.
During the 10 years Dief spent in Kelowna he, and two of his friends, Rudy Schulz and Dennis Marks, started Mardis Logging Company Limited. The company subsequently moved to Cranbrook in 1967 and ran for about 7 years then became relatively inactive until Dief started up Mardis Logging again in 1979 when Rudy's shares were purchased by Doc Green. The business remained in operation until shortly after Doc Green's Death in 1987, when Dief retired.
Dief also loved to hunt. If he hunted it, he ate it. It didn't matter what it was. The most beautiful bear and cougar pelts were actually sent back to Germany with his brother one year. He hunted with a few friends and I am sure there are stories to be told, and memories for many to be shared and I hope that anyone who remembers them takes the time to send them to the family. We'd welcome them. Feel free to message Deanne on FB with a favorite story to pass along.
Before Mardis started up again Dief became one of the first people to purchase land from Dr. Green's subdivision on Skookumchuck Prairie, and not long after that he began working for Doc Green on his ranch where he made hay and worked the cattle. That is where he met his wife, Sally, and her three children, Deanne, Allen and Amy. His kids remember the day when they walked out of the courthouse with big smiles, got into Gratia Greens big Mustang where they asked if he was their Dad now, to which he replied that he was. He was a wonderful Dad, too, to the very end.
