Renaissance Man led life of adventure in air and deep in the ocean
Glenn Kreitzer of Penetanguishene Born: June 6, 1929, in Kitchener Died: March, 8, 2018, of age related illness
PENETANGUISHENE — Glenn Kreitzer was a man of adventure and enterprise, always looking for the next big challenge.
And he found several, from co-founding a diving club in Kitchener, to refurbishing an old steam boat at the family’s Honey Harbour campground.
Longtime friend, Jim Lapinskas said Kreitzer loved to tinker, but he was thoughtful and never took on any project without careful planning.
“He always had ideas how to innovate. He’d say to me three words: ‘Think about it.’”
The two met in 1986, after Lapinskas found the perfect spot to set up his vacation camper at Kreitzer’s camp, Kings Portage Park, on Baxter Lake east of Georgian Bay.
Coincidentally, the hydro pole in front of that ideal site happened to have a metal number tag tacked to the wood: 911. Lapinskas is a firefighter with the Toronto Fire Department, so the number seemed like a good omen. And it was.
Lapinskas said Kreitzer turned out to be a good friend and it was always interesting to see what new project he’d come up with at the camp. Whatever it was, Kreitzer would first learn everything he could through research.
Take the steamboat for example, a 24-food open hull boat styled after the “African Queen” a craft made famous in the 1951 movie of the same name.
Kreitzer located a steam association and purchased the boat from a member, though he knew nothing about steam boats.
“He learned everything he had to about it, it was awesome,” said Lapinskas. “You always knew he was coming down the lake, you’d see the steam.”
He even called the boat “The Hot Honey” and would frequently take visitors out for a Georgian Bay cruise.
“He loved that thing,” said Lapinskas.
Then there was the vintage tractor Kreitzer drove around the property when he wasn’t using the less exciting golf cart. The chug, chug of the diesel announced his arrival.
Kreitzer “knew a little bit about everything” said his friend. “He always had ideas how to innovate.”
Kreitzer was born in Kitchener, one of two children. His brother, Ron, served in the air force, while Glenn worked for a time as an electrician. He met Joan Koening as a young teen and they became inseparable.
Daughter, Janice Verschuere, recalled her parents began courting “while he was a sea cadet and her, a camp councillor at Wabanaki YWCA camp” near Huntsville.
“Mom and Dad had been in love at a young age,” said Verschuere. “His heart was broken when Mom passed in 2000 (of cancer). He was never the same.”
The couple had married in 1949 and Kreitzer joined her father’s company, E.B. Koenig Ltd., an International Harvester dealership that eventually switched to selling recreational vehicles and appliances.
After Koening’s father, Ben Koenig, died in 1984, the couple took over the business, though they had been running it during his long illness. Together they made a success of the company and when it was time to retire, they sold the property and purchased the Honey Harbour camp.
Lapinskas said this was a perfect role for the affable couple. Both were very social and he really loved to chat with visitors. “He was really jovial.” Rocky Rochejocquelin, 98, another friend and former dive instructor, who was happy to chat about the old days of the K-W Dolphins Diving Club they founded, said Kreitzer was firm in his beliefs.
But he was also “good in every way, he was a very fine fellow.”
Kreitzer had been one of Rochejocquelin’s students in the YMCA’s diver training. And
eventually the two men, along with others, decided to form the diving club, giving themselves more exciting opportunities outside of the swimming pool.
The thing about the 1960s in Kitchener was that there were not a lot of local dive shops selling equipment, so members had to be resourceful.
“Glenn was really good at this,” said Rochejocquelin. “We didn’t buy a lot of equipment, we built it. He built camera cases and diving suits.”
Kreitzer was a good diver, always respectful of their surroundings, watching out for other divers and never taking dangerous chances. Rochejocquelin said his friend was an excellent instructor, helping new divers.
“He cared about other people. He was always willing to help.”
The dozen or so members of the club usually explored Ontario lakes, rivers and the many flooded quarries, which proved richly rewarding for finding unusual objects.
One quarry, said Rochejocquelin, had a fully intact train on tracks on the quarry’s floor, left over from the mining operations.
As a team they also had many diving trips to Florida, sinking beneath the waves near the Kreitzers’ winter home on the Isle of Capri, where Kreitzer shot many photos of sea life.
“He was very industrious,” said Rochejocquelin. “You couldn’t help but like him.”
Gail Kreitzer described her father as “strong, confident and successful,” a man whose life was rich in experiences.
He was also a pilot and member of the Waterloo Wellington Flying Club, winning awards for his skills. He owned several planes, a passion that started with a glider before he moved onto Cessnas. He also built a gyrocopter.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough, in 1953 Kreitzer, the owner of a stock car, became a founding member of the Bridgeport Speedway, located on a former horse-racing track beside the Grand River.
According to news articles at the time, Kreitzer was the company’s “key man,” having helped build the grandstand and upgrade the existing track.
Bridgeport was a quarter-mile asphalt track that lured stock car racers from across Ontario and the northern U.S., each hoping for a shot at a cash prize. After the track closed in 1963, the land was transformed into what is now the Bridgeport Sportsfield, adjacent to the Grand River.
Gail Kreitzer recalled her sports-minded father had been a champion boxer as a young man, and he was keen on motorcycles, riding right up until his mid-80s. He was also a volunteer firefighter at their Florida community.
It seemed there wasn’t much this Renaissance Man could not do, including building his daughter a home on a remote river.
Verschuere recalled that: “In 1981, without any prior knowledge of working with logs, my Dad came up to the Yukon to help me build my log house, on the Klondike River near Dawson City.”