Obituary of Reinhard Gau

Gau, Reinhard - passed away Sunday, September 13th, 2020, while receiving loving care at the home of his cousins, Kurt and Kathe Wiens, through a difficult time of illness. 

Reinhard was born on July 2nd, 1941, in Peterswalde, Kreis Stuhm, West Prussia, and fled with his mother and siblings to Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany, in 1945, in the last months of WW2. The family resettled in Uruguay, South America in 1951, and immigrated to Canada in 1978, where Reinhard and his brother Herman operated a hog farm on Line 5, Niagara-on-the-lake for many years. He was a faithful member of the Niagara United Mennonite Church.

Reinhard is survived by his brother Herman, sister Christa and Otto Janzen in Germany, and many nephews, nieces and friends, whom he dearly loved. He was predeceased by 2 siblings on the treacherous escape from West Prussia, his mother Elfriede (nee Wiens) in 1951, brother-in-law Norbert Woelke in 1969, his father Theodore in 1970, stepmother Nelly (nee Wiens) in 1982, brother-in-law Erwin Belau in 2004, and sister Anneliese in 2010.

Family and friends are welcomed to a graveside service Tuesday, September 15, at 10:00 a.m., at the Niagara Lakeshore Cemetery, with a brief visitation preceding the service. Please bring a lawn chair. 

In memory of Reinhard, donations may be made to Mennonite Central Committee, for which he was an enthusiastic supporter.