Manfred Pape
September 29, 1941 – May 27, 2013
In fond memory of Manfred Pape who is lovingly remembered as a devoted husband, father, brother, friend, railway buff, pharmacist, hiker, cyclist, cross-country skier, nature lover and world traveller. Born Sept 29, 1941 in Leipzig, Germany, Manfred died May 27, 2013 in Victoria, British Columbia, after a long struggle with colorectal cancer. It is with heartfelt gratitude that Manfred’s family expresses their appreciation for the compassionate & expert care offered Manfred in these last months at Victoria Hospice.
Before moving to Victoria in 2012, Manfred and his wife, Marion, spent over 11 years on Salt Spring Island on a Rainbow Road acreage with dozens of fruit trees and a nourishing garden. Manfred will be deeply missed by his wife Marion, their son Andrew Pape-Salmon (Victoria), their daughter-in-law Sara and her family (Courtenay), Manfred’s sister Maria Lewis (Port Perry, ON) and brothers George and Herbert (Delhi and Aino Beach, ON).
Manfred went to high school in Ajax, ON and graduated from the University of Toronto where he met Marion. Drawn together by their sense of adventure and love for travel, Manfred & Marion moved to Western Canada and the Yukon shortly after the birth of their son, Andrew. Before Andrew was of school age, they headed south along the West Coast in a Volkswagen Westfalia camper to the Panama Canal – thus securing a characteristic “flight of the spirit” that over the years has endeared Manfred and Marion to the truly curious and adventurous of heart.
Manfred Pape was a compassionate and attentive listener who was generous with his time and energy. In 2010, Manfred participated as a member of the support team for the three-week-long Vancouver Island Spine Trail Relay. Manfred helped carry the trail runners’ camping gear out of Cape Scott as his son Andrew and three others ran the North Coast Trail, meeting the group on a water taxi 14 hours later.
Manfred worked as a pharmacist in Ontario, Alberta, the North West Territories, the Yukon, Nova Scotia and British Columbia. He also worked in Saskatchewan with Federated Co-op. But trains were his passion. He grew up with railroads and had a phenomenal memory for remembering the timetables of buses and trains across Canada. He was in every sense of the word, Canadian. He had a love for the open road, for the adventure of travel, for the enjoyment of the people he met along the way. His home was not any one province, city or rural area. His home was this immense country called Canada and he made it his life’s ambition to see and explore as much of it as possible.
One of Manfred’s final delights was watching and talking to his team of 26 friends and family members in the “Hike for Hospice” on May 5th via an internet video connection from his hospice bed.
A Celebration of Manfred’s life will be held at Manfred’s request at First Unitarian Church, 5575 West Saanich Rd. followed by a picnic on Canada Day weekend, at 3pm, June 30th.
Donations in lieu of flowers can be sent to Victoria Hospice http://www.victoriahospice.org or the Land Conservancy of BC (www.conservancy.bc.ca).