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IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Manfred Bernd

Manfred Bernd Ziegenhagen Profile Photo

Ziegenhagen

September 30, 1948 – May 28, 2018

Obituary

Manfred Bernd Ziegenhagen ~ Sept. 30, 1948 – May 28, 2018

Manfred Ziegenhagen was born in 1948 in West Berlin, Germany, and as a child made his way to Canada, accompanying his parents and younger brother, one small droplet of that massive post-war immigration wave escaping a hungry, war-torn Europe. Already the maverick at age 6, he bypassed world famous Pier 21 in Halifax but gained entry into his adopted Heimat instead at Quebec City. The family settled in southern Ontario and he graduated from Anderson Collegiate in Whitby (imagine, only one day's absence from class – and that to attend Citizenship Court - during five years of high school), as part of the Centennial Year Class of '67. He hitchhiked east to Montreal, lured by the sights and sounds of the World's Fair Exposition, Habitat 67 and the influential coffee house/folk music scene. A dishwashing job at the downtown Playboy Club, a police raid on a coffeehouse, a charge of resisting arrest, and a 14 day jail sentence were just more summer adventures and opportunity:  in prison, he collected  cigarettes by winning chess matches regularly against the other prisoners. A non-smoker, he then traded the smokes for protection and canteen goodies. Released from Montreal's notorious Bordeaux Jail, Manfred took up residence in a jail-sized student room while attending the University of Waterloo, studying Computer Sciences. Summer adventures continued; 1968 was a hitchhike trip across Canada, to the west coast of Vancouver Island, to sleep on the beach by Tofino. The next summer found him in upstate New York, one of 400,000 youths gathered for the Woodstock Music Festival. The rest of that summer was spent hitchhiking across the USA to California and then the music scene in San Francisco. Following his computer studies he continued his travels in Europe, taking full advantage of his Canadian Passport plus his contract employment with the American Air Force at Templehof Airport in Berlin. An avid history buff, he was curious about life on the other side of the Iron Curtain, and toured most of the Soviet-controlled countries of eastern and central Europe. Broken down buses, inclement weather, trains to nowhere, intimidating military, he took it all in. The only aggravation, he'd say, was back at the Berlin airbase Monday morning facing a brutally thorough de-briefing by Military Intelligence Officers after each weekend trip to the east. Europe's extensive and cheap rail system back then also encouraged more cultural weekend jaunts: Montreux and Vienna for the music, Prague for the beer, Munich for the beer steins, Amsterdam for the ...ambience.  Manfred moved back to Canada in 1993 . W hen his Toronto -based firm, Acrobat Research, followed the lure of provincial tax dollars to open a call centre at the Greenwood Mall, he transferred there as the Computer/ IT staffer.  Manfred fell in love with the peoples, the cuisine and lifestyles, the towns and villages in the Annapolis Valley. Added bonus: the magical isle of Cuba was now so much closer. He never owned a car, never had a driver's licence, but that never stopped him from exploring.  His trusty 10-speed and Kings Transit provided numerous Valley adventures, while free Wi-Fi sealed the deal with VIA Rail for his annual Rocky Mountain and West Coast explorations. Manfred died at Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Middleton on Memorial Day, surrounded by love, lobster boat crumbs, and dear friends from Greenwood, Margaretsville and Halifax. He was pre-deceased by his father, Herbert, and is survived by his Mother, Jutta, and brother, Rainer. In his later years, Manfred became a passionate cat lover and cared for animals in distress, and strays. Donations in Manfred's memory can be made to the Valley charity CATS-R-US (contact Debbie at 902 765 4789).  Cremation arrangements have been entrusted to Middleton Funeral Home, 398 Main St., 902-825-3448 with no visitation or service. An online guestbook may be signed by visiting: www.middletonfuneralhome.com
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