Passed away peacefully at Wesburn Manor with his sons, Armin and Ralph, at his side after a long battle with Ataxia.

Alarich (Al) was born in Arusha, Tanganyika (Tanzania), Africa at his parent’s coffee plantation. Life in Africa had a number of challenges including the loss of Al’s twin brother Jurgen at age 5 and culminating with the loss of the plantation and detention in an internment camp for the duration of the Second World War. Returning to Germany in 1948, Al felt his best opportunity was to start a new life in Canada and he emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1956.

Al had a great aptitude for mechanical assembly and he started a life-long career in the Millwright Union Local # 2309 in 1958. Al worked on a number of landmark construction projects over his career including the original TD Tower in Toronto, Ford Assembly Plant in Oakville, the Pickering Nuclear generating station, and the St. Mary’s Cement plant in Bowmanville.

In 1959, Al met Anni (Ziggert) and they enjoyed the nightlife in Toronto, including a number of visits to the El Mocambo night club which is still in existence today. They married in 1960, and the birth of the ‘twin boys’, Armin and Ralph, soon followed and this started their adventures in parenting. Both Anni and Al understood the benefits of hard work and hands-on parenting and a number of fantastic family memories were forged around camping trips, overloading the boat trailer, driving back and forth from Blue Mountain and the famous ‘throwing of the tools’ followed by innovative swear words during family fix-it projects. Throughout it all, Al maintained his great sense of humour. For Anni and Al, their proudest moment was the graduation of both Ralph and Armin from U of T Electrical Engineering in 1983.

With the departure of ‘the boys’ after graduation, Al and Anni spent more time playing tennis and travelling. Anni passed away in 1991, and Al was lucky to meet Norah McLoughlin in 1995 and she became his partner for the next 20 years during which time they travelled the globe including Europe, Africa, Australia and North America. The arrival of the three grandkids; Konrad, Derek, and Alexander gave Al the opportunity to showcase some of his skills in building birdhouses, flower planters and fixing lawnmowers, much to the amusement of the grandkids.

Unfortunately, by the late 1990’s Al began to notice a deterioration in his physical condition and he was diagnosed with Ataxia. He continued to live on his own after Norah passed away in 2016, however, his condition required the move to Wesburn Manor in early 2018. Many thanks to the staff of both Thornbrook Homecare and Wesburn Manor for their patience and compassion over the last months of Al’s life. Al is survived by his sons Ralph and Armin (Peri Schleining) and his grandchildren Konrad, Derek and Alexander. He will also be missed by his cousin, Helga Cathrein, and her family in California.
The family is holding a private service. If friends desire, memorial donations may be made to the Heart & Stroke Foundation.