Poschmann Anthon Jorgen
July 07, 1927 – December 18, 2018
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Jorgen Anthon Poschmann, aged 91 of Oakville, Ontario passed away peacefully on December 18, 2019 after months of wishing his heart would work better than it was.
Jorgen was born on July 7, 1927 in Copenhagen, Denmark. As a teen, he worked with the underground during occupation, completed his apprenticeship as a master potter, and eventually did postwar minesweeper duty with the Danish navy. After beginning his university studies in ceramics engineering in Denmark, Germany and the US, he met Erla Samuelsson while skiing in Iceland, and persuaded her to follow him to the US where they married on October 27, 1951 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
In 1953, rather than returning to the family dinnerware plant in Denmark on completion of schooling, Jorgen took a job with Ferro Industrials in Oakville. Five years later, with Ferro’s help and blessing, he founded The Pottery Supply House (PSH) where he worked until retirement. PSH opened for business occupying the ‘Granary’ building on the banks of the Sixteen Mile Creek. Outgrowing this building, PSH moved to Speers Road and continues to serve the needs of Canadian potters. After retirement, Jorgen worked as a volunteer advisor for CESO (Canadian Executive Service Organization) and CIDA, advising on materials, equipment and processes for improving commercial ceramics production in Guyana, China, Bolivia, Peru, the Philippines, Ghana, Egypt, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Romania.
Jorgen was an accomplished potter, and his bowls, mugs and vases abound in the homes of his sons and daughters and grandchildren and their friends – many bearing notes on the type of clay, firing temperature, glaze mixture and year for each piece as they were all test pieces for each batch of clay produced by PSH.
Jorgen and Erla were amongst the first of the Oakville Scottish Country Dance Society members and hosted many a dance party at their home.
Jorgen was ever the sailor and he enjoyed his 25 years of sailing aboard his pride and joy, “Whitecap”, largely in Georgian Bay but also Lakes Ontario and Erie. He had to divide his spare time, though, between the sailboat and the family cottage property near Bancroft, which was lovingly named “Gimli” by his wife Erla and where many of his children and grandchildren learned the love of simple life.
Jorgen is predeceased by his parents, his sister and his granddaughter. He is survived by his wife Erla, his daughters Anne (Doug) and Lotte (Paul), and his sons Paul (Wendy), Gunnar (Cherry), Eric (Monica) and Finn (Heidi), his eight grandchildren Soren (Becky), Brett (Dara), Max (Jaela), Sean, Christian, Kenzie, Ainsley and Lachlan, and two great-grandchildren, Maisie and Leif.
Family and friends gathered for a celebration of life on Sunday, January 13, 2019.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Poschmann Anthon Jorgen July 07 1927 December 18 2018..
Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home
Death notice for the town of: Oakville, Province: Ontario