Bert Haas
At the John M. Parrot Centre, Napanee, on Tuesday May 10, 2022 at the age of 90 years. Bert Haas of Petawawa, beloved husband of the late Corrie Haas (nee Zwanikken). Loved and cherished father to Odette Haas (Michael Freeman) Kingston, Maureen Haas (Michael Cartan), Gananoque, Yvonne Haas (Roman Wasylyk), Toronto. Loving Opa to Thomas, Danielle, John, Leah, Erin, Alison, Helena and Anna.
Dear brother of the late Ida, Richard, Frida, Willem, all of the Netherlands, and survived by sisters Diny (Haas-Bosman) of the Netherlands and Josephine (Haas-Treffers) of Canada.
Friends are invited to share their memories of Bert with his family during visitation at the MURPHY FUNERAL HOME, 296 Isabella Street, Pembroke on Friday, May 20, from 7 – 9 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, May 21 at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 11 Mohns Avenue, Petawawa.
Interment at St. Columba’s Cemetery.
In memory of Bert, donations to the Nature Conservancy of Canada or the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated. Condolences, tributes, donations www.murphyfuneralhome.ca
Bert Haas, beloved husband, father, and grandfather was not only our Dad, he was our role
model, our hero and our rock.
Lambertus Johannes Haas was born July 22, 1931, in Deventer, the Netherlands to
Lambertus Haas and Wilhelmina Kortz. He was the seventh and youngest sibling to Ida,
Richard, Frida, Willem, Diny, and Josephine.
Bert grew up in a quintessentially Dutch row house on the 2e Weerdsweg near the Ijssel
River in Deventer. He loved cycling around the beautiful farmlands of the Netherlands, and in
winter, skating on the canals with his wooden skates. He was a bright and strong-willed boy
and was doted on by his mother and older sisters. His mother often admonished his siblings
to save a little extra food for “Kleine Bertje.”
During World War II and the German occupation of the Netherlands, food was scarce, and
there was a famine at the end of the war. Young Bert helped provide for the family. He would
bike out to visit relatives on a nearby farm, and come back with produce hidden in his clothes
to avoid confiscation at the checkpoints. The family kept rabbits in the back yard, and he
couldn’t stand them suffering, so at an early age, he took over from his father when it was
time for them to be slaughtered. He told dramatic stories of staging heists on Nazi bread
trucks where one friend would hop on the back of a moving truck and throw loaves of bread to
Bert and his friends riding behind on bikes.
When his older brother Richard escaped from a work camp in Germany, the family hid him in
the basement for the last year of the war. The Haas house was also close enough to a
significant bridge that it was in the range of bombers. Bert spoke of the family cowering in the
basement and listening to the terrifying sounds of bombs falling. Their house remained intact,
but many in their neighbourhood were not so lucky. Their local bridge was later used to film
“A Bridge Too Far” as the eponymous one in Arnhem had been destroyed. When Canadian
solders liberated Deventer, it was with a street to street offensive, and Bert described his 15-
year old self, tailing just behind the soldiers and witnessing the end of German occupation
with elation.
After high school, Bert’s initial dreams of joining the military were foiled because of his past
TB infection. And so he went on to study tropical agriculture at the local college. His
professor was Kees Zwanikken, father to the lovely Corrie, whom he had also happened to
meet through his sister Jos. Bert asked Corrie to a dance at the college, but she declined
because she had injured her hand and needed a tendon repair. When she felt better and
showed up anyway with her father, Bert was a little miffed, but he didn’t forget her.
He loved open spaces, and after college, he decided to emigrate to Canada. He arrived in
Toronto in 1954 with only his suitcase and $50 in his pocket. In his first year here, he worked
on a farm and saved his money. With that and with financial help from his generous siblings,
he enrolled in Forestry at the University of Toronto. There he made good friends, including his
old friend from Deventer, Dolf Wynia. He loved U of T, and even though he wasn’t a very
good soccer player, he was recruited to the varsity team simply because he was Dutch.
During the summers, he worked for forestry companies in northern wilds of B.C., Alberta and
Ontario. He and his crew would be flown in by float plane, dropped off with just their camping
gear, and their supplies, and a canoe, and they would spend the next few months paddling
their way down remote rivers and timber-cruising the local forests.
In his last year of school, Bert’s sister Jos encouraged him to write letters to her friend Corrie
back home. After a year of increasingly romantic correspondence, and a brief courtship back
in the Netherlands, they were married. Corrie followed Bert to his beloved Canada. Soon
after, Odette, Maureen, and Yvonne were born.
Bert began working for the the Department of Lands and Forests (later the Ministry of Natural
Resources,) and started his career in the south in Orono and Bowmanville, and then moving
north to Sioux Lookout, Geraltdon, and Terrace Bay, then finally Petawawa. He worked as
District Manager first in Terrace Bay and then in Pembroke District.
He was an avid outdoorsman, and first developed an interest in fishing and hunting in Sioux
Lookout with friend Jim Waddell. One of my fondest memories in Terrace Bay is of a time Dad
came home at midnight from a fishing trip. He gave me bear hug that smelled like woodsmoke and was scratchy with 2-week beard. I was allowed to stay up while he fried his
freshly caught pickerel in butter. It was the best fish I have ever tasted.
Lake Superior has a way of getting in the blood of those who live on it’s shores, and Bert was
no exception. He adored it’s wild beauty. Even after moving to Petawawa, he and Corrie
would drive across the province and then boat out to their beloved Slate Islands every
summer. That campground became their living room, and it was there they hosted many a
wonderful gathering of family and friends the Wynias and the Starrs, always with freshlycaught lake trout always on the menu.
Despite his extreme safety-consciousness, nothing would stop Bert from getting to the Slates
when he wanted to go. On a few occasions, he successfully navigated through fog using only
a compass. However, one attempt was not so successful. Lost in a dense fog, my parents
and the Starrs decided to raft together fir the night. They woke at dawn horrified to find
themselves floating right under an imposing Canadian shield cliff face. The story became a
legendary family poem.
Bert was happiest in the outdoors. For many years, he and friend Eric would head back to
Lake Superior to hunt moose in the chill of November. In later years, he hunted deer in
Opeongo, or joined friend John to hunt turkeys in Prince Edward County or Manitoulin Island.
Bert grew to love the Ottawa River. Most evenings when he had a chance, he would trailer
his boat to down the river with friend Gary where they would fish and talk and keep track of a
family of bald eagles that nested there.
Bert was an extremely intelligent and well-informed man, and he stayed current with a
multitude of news magazines and programs. Even as an elderly man, he could quote esoteric
facts about the periodic table or world history. He was very handy, and we relied on him to fix
almost anything. However he tended to value function over form, and his repairs became
known as “Bert modifications”.
Despite his gruff exterior, Bert was a secretly sentimental soul. He loved to stay up late
watching old movies. TVO’s Saturday Night at the Movies was regular fare for us, and he
was known to shed a discreet tear during the sentimental ones, particularly his favourite
Frank Capra films.
Bert was very much an animal lover. When he was a child, he fed a crow regularly, and
considered it a pet. At age 15, he brought home a puppy, and in true Bert fashion, announced
to the family they were keeping it, which they unquestioningly did. On two occasions as a
forester, he found feral cats in the bush and brought them home for us to rescue. But mostly
he loved his dogs, and there was always a loyal companion at his foot.
Our Dad could be both affectionate and stern and he definitely commanded our respect. His
grandchildren knew better than to sit in his special chair. But we also knew that no matter
what, he was always there for us, ready for anything from defending us from terrors while
babysitting, to endlessly moving belongings between apartments In Kingston and Toronto, to
doing minor household repairs during visits. We could go to him for sage advice for anything
from finances to relationships.
Bert clearly adored our mother Corrie. Although they had their moments of sparring about
ideas, he loved and respected her, and they were very much a team. After his second
debilitating stroke took him to long term care, she visited him daily without fail until she
passed away in 2018.
We are eternally grateful to our Petawawa family friends the Wilsons, the Stevens, and many
more for all they have done for our parents all these years.
We are sad to lose our Dad, but relieved that he is now free. He was a strong, kind and
ethical man, a loving father who protected us, guided us, and supported us. He loved us
beyond measure, and in return we adored him. I think right now he is sitting with Corrie by the
fire at the Slates raising a glass to the stars and giving his signature shout of joy at the
freedom. Dad, we love you and you are forever in our hearts
Read Less
Tuesday May 10th 2022
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Bert Haas Tuesday May 10th 2022..
Décès pour la Ville:Pembroke, Province: Ontario