Raimund Haeussler
1929-2007
Ray died on August 17th in Bulkley Valley Hospital, Smithers, following a major stroke. He is survived by his wife Susanne, sisters Ursula and Gisela, daughters Dorothea, Sybille (Dave Coates) and Cornelia (Leo Rankin) and grandchildren Andrea, Chris, Sonja and Stephen and many good friends. He was predeceased by his brother Martin.
Raimund grew up in the village of Dornstetten, Germany and apprenticed as a blacksmith. In 1952 Raimund and his friend Ulrich emigrated to Canada in search of adventure and opportunity and settled in British Columbia. In 1953 Raimund picked up his fiancee Susanne and his twin sister Gisela in Montreal and together they took the great Canadian road trip back to B.C. in one of Canada’s first Volkswagen Beetles. Raimund and Susanne married in Prince George, had their first child in Vancouver and raised their family in Kitimat. Ray became a journeyman millwright at Alcan and was very active in union affairs and in the local NDP. In the 1970s he was a key organizer of the independent Canadian union, CASAW.
Ray loved all things mechanical and could build or fix anything. He also loved hunting and fishing with his friends, wilderness trips into the mountains and boating on northern BC rivers. He passed on his great love for the outdoors to all three of his daughters through family camping, boating and hiking trips. In 1976, Ray and Susanne moved to Kitwanga where they hand built a beautiful log home with a view of the Seven Sisters Mountains. In Kitwanga, Ray took up a new hobby, building and flying ultralight and homebuilt aircraft. Recently Ray and Susanne moved to Smithers, where he kept up his interests in aviation and current afairs.
At Ray’s request there will be no funeral.