Arndt von Holtzendorff

von Holtzendorff, Arndt - We are sad to share the loss of our father, Arndt von Holtzendorff. Arndt was born in 1927 in the village of Jagow, Brandenburg, Germany, to a Prussian Junker family who had resided in that area since the 1300s. At the end of the Second World War, he and his family fled their ancestral home ahead of advancing Soviet army. Only with the reunification of Germany were his family able to return to visit Jagow for the first time.

Once in the West, Arndt studied agriculture and farming, and he worked on many different farms around Germany and Switzerland. In 1952, he emigrated to Canada, initially settling in South-Western Ontario. There he met his future wife, Ursula Oesterle, also a recent immigrant from Germany. They married in 1954 and remained together until her death in 2015.

In 1962 Arndt and Ursula and their three children moved to North Bay, Ontario, where he began working at the Borden’s Chemicals plant. Initially a labourer, he eventually became plant manager, kept this position until his retirement at sixty-four. When not working, Arndt was active in the North Bay Germania Club, played tennis and cross country skied, and he spent time at his cottage on Lake Nosbonsing, where he enjoyed landscaping and gardening. In his life Arndt planted many trees!    

Arndt is survived by his three sons, Peter, Arndt and Marcus, as well as eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. A great tragedy in his life was the death of his daughter Ute in 2012.

Arndt passed away peacefully in his sleep early Monday morning at Water’s Edge Care Community.

Donations to http://alzheimer.ca/en/ in memory of Arndt will be gratefully acknowledged.

The visitation for Arndt will be held at HILLSIDE FUNERAL SERVICES, 362 Airport Rd., on Wednesday, December 19th, 2018 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm followed by a service at 3:00pm.