JOACHIM BERNHARDT JAHNE

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JOACHIM BERNHARDT JAHNE

September 7, 1943 - November 30, 2023

Jochen, the love of my life, died in my arms. But this is a never-ending love story. In 1968, Jochen, a tall skinny 24-year-old USAF Airman was driving his little blue Porsche when he saw me. He didn’t need a pick-up line. I was standing in the road hitchhiking. He popped the question on our first date (he said I was a good first date). I said yes. We married three weeks later. Last June 15th we celebrated our 55th anniversary. My life was his life and his life was my life. We did everything together. I surrounded him with my love and caregiving. In return, he was my Wilson. In the movie Cast Away, Wilson is a soccer ball with a bloody handprint face that saves Tom Hanks’s life while Hanks is stranded on a deserted island. It is a narrative that proclaims the survival of the human spirit. Despite Parkinson’s Disease and its unrelenting tipping points and complications, Jochen sustained me with his love, emotional strength, patience, intellect, gentleness, and humour — how we laughed! The word caregiving took on new meaning. Jochen lived a full eighty years. At age nine, he immigrated to the US from Schliersee, Germany. He attended Central HS in St. Paul, Minnesota, and graduated from Macalester College, majoring in German. He taught at Sturgis HS in S. Dakota. He was a base photographer in the US Airforce stationed at Chicopee, Mass. When he received his orders to photograph bombing sites in Vietnam, he deserted and we immigrated to Canada with our infant son, Hans. This non-violent protest carried the penalty of death.

In Winnipeg, he was a well-loved teacher at Andrew Mynarski, Sisler, and Isaac Brock. But his dream was to be his own boss (or retire early). We bought McCullough’s Hardware on Corydon Avenue. When the hardware failed, he became the Chief (he always said, “and only”) Manitoba Theatre Inspector for the Film Board and a Liquor Inspector. We then opened The Good Wool Shop and he made wool drum carders and weaving equipment. He excelled as a maker. He was a skilled photographer and printed all his own black & white photographs. He built our handmade house on Pleasant Road in Anola. He made jewellery and forged ornamental ironwork. He crafted Shaker inspired boxes and baskets from rough planks of maple and cherry. These were displayed in the 1984 “Reflections on Three Plains” Contemporary Crafts exhibit at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. When we started Virginia’s Soap he made the first batch on our wood cookstove. He invented and made all the soap-making equipment and made all the soap for accounts across Canada, Sweden, and for Disney World and Disneyland.

His family was everything to him. He dearly loved his son, Hans. The times they spent in “car talk” and discussing just about everything from politics to mousetraps gave him great joy. He loved Martha, his favourite daughter-in-law like his own daughter. He cherished his favourite granddaughters, Alexis and Camille, and loved playing “monster” and “evil dentist” with them when they were little. As they grew, their Pepa was so proud of their accomplishments.

He was predeceased by his mother Ingeborg Püschel Black, birth father Johann (Hans) Jähne, stepfather Jesse W. Black III, and sister Manuela (Stutz) Mühlberger. He leaves grieving, his wife Virginia; son Hans (Martha Reyes); granddaughters Alexis and Camille; siblings, Ben (Kay-Marie) and Jesse (Karen); the Page and Reyes families; many nephews and nieces in the US and Germany; best friend Jim Johnston and Judy; and many other great friends who kept him in their hearts. Thanks to Blake, Luciana, Jason, and Toyin, healthcare aides from Comforts of Home, who eased his last days with their care. A Celebration of Life will be held in spring 2024.

You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart

Tributes: seasonsfunerals.ca

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Dec 09, 2023, Dec 09, 2023