Obituary of Henry Gemar

Heinrich (Henry) Gemar, resident of Melody Manor in Yorkton, formerly of the Stornoway district passed away on Thursday, March 25th 2021. He had just celebrated his 93rd birthday on January 30th. Henry was born in Rohrbach, Ukraine; a son of Heinrich and Emma (nee Woehl) Gemar. The family, consisting of mom Emma, sisters Emma & Sophia and Henry moved from Rohrbach to Neumunster, Germany, where Henry took up employment with a builder to learn the construction trade. He also found another reason to stay in Neumunster, her name was Ingeburg Leidig. In 1951 the couple married and remained in Germany until they decided to pick up and immigrate to Canada in 1952, following Henry's older sister and husband that had immigrated a year earlier. After a ten day voyage in the Beaverbray, a freighter, they landed at St. John's, NL. From there it was a six day train ride to the community of Fairview, Alberta. There the family had the good fortune of moving into an empty grainary which had a wood stove and a bed. These were humble beginnings but Henry soon began building their first home within two years because the family was about to get bigger, as daughter Ingrid was born in 1955. Henry worked hard and looked after the dairy at the Fairview College, in addition to doing drywall and painting work on the side. Henry continued at the college until 1979, when he and Inge decided to follow their daughter Ingrid to Yorkton, where Ingrid and her husband Stan had moved to the family farm and were expecting their own addition to the family. Henry and Inge purchased a small farm close to Stan and Ingrid and fulfilled one of his dreams to one day own and operate his own farm. Henry soon learned the farm wasn't large enough to make ends meet but he was in high demand to do drywalling, painting and stippling jobs in the area. Opa, as he was affectionately called by his three grandchildren, enjoyed spending time with them and they all loved spending time helping him drive the lawn tractor around the yard cutting the grass. Later his five great grandchildren also had the opportunity to experience some of this bonding time. Opa was predeceased by his parents, his wife Inge and two of his siblings. He leaves to cherish his memory his daughter Ingrid (Stan) Stumph of Yorkton; grandchildren: Stephanie (Gary) Denbow of Minneapolis, MN; Benn (Amber) Stumph and their children Elise and Nolan of Minneapolis, MN; Dan (Sarah) Stumph and their children Casey, Jonas and Davis of Warman, SK; as well as numerous nephews, nieces and friends. Service Details. Service When: Thursday, April 1st, 2021 2:00pm Location: Yorkton Memorial Gardens Family Centre Address: Highway #10 East YORKTON, SK Interment Location: Yorkton Memorial Gardens Address: Highway #10 East YORKTON, SK Online Memory & Photo Sharing Event Ongoing Online Event About this event In Loving Memory Of Henry Gemar January 30, 1928 - March 25, 2021 Look inside to read what others have shared Family and friends are coming together online to create a special keepsake. Every memory left on the online obituary will be automatically included in this book. View Tribute Book