Robert Jantzi overcame adversity to pursue passions
Robert Jantzi, of Hamilton Born: April 6, 1948, in Wellesley Died: May 5, 2021, of respiratory complications
If there was a recurring theme in Robert Jantzi’s life it was trees: that bit of nature that inspired a career and led to a catastrophic injury.
An arborist, Robert worked for the City of Hamilton in 1986 when he was trimming a tree and fell six metres, breaking both femurs and suffering several lacerations. Robert’s career with the city ended that day, and he would spend the rest of his life suffering debilitating pain, mostly confined to a wheelchair though he kept right on planting trees on borrowed land in Wellesley.
“He would sit on the ground and slide around doing things (planting),” said his sister Joyce Bauman. “He didn’t let it stop him.”
Robert was born April 6, 1948, one of four children of Walter and Mary Jantzi. Walter and his father ran the feed mill in Wellesley and eventually sold the business. After operating for 150 years as a feed mill, the building today houses a furniture restoration company run by Lucy Pearlle. Robert would be pleased, given his interest in protecting and celebrating the past and his interest in old mills. Following his accident, along with his wife Joyce Jantzi, he would visit many locations as a member of the Timber Framers Guild of North America and the Friends of Ohio Barns.
Niece, Chrissy Arjune, runs CrowsFoot Garden, a chemical-free market garden in Elmira. Her uncle had been an inspiration given his “strong knowledge of history.” He understood how things were done during his Mennonite ancestor’s farming days.
“He was interested in old farming techniques,” she said. “He had lots of passions and a lot that he pursued.”
Among those passions was architecture. According to his sister, Robert was always coming up with innovative building ideas. He also loved photography, particularly nature. From the time he was a boy, Robert would be wandering in the bush, likely looking up at the trees.
Robert’s wife, Joyce, was related to the Jantzi family through an uncle’s marriage and had run into him a few times. She remembers when her parents were selling their Dunnville farm, and Robert showed up for the auction.
“He liked a sale,” she said. At the time, Robert, a graduate of Niagara College’s horticultural program, worked as a draftsman for a Toronto landscaping company. They married on Jan, 1. 1977, and set up their home in Hamilton. Robert was laid off a year later but managed to find contract work with the City of Hamilton, work that eventually led to a full-time job.
Eager to increase his knowledge of horticulture, Robert completed two 10week winter courses in horticulture at Rutgers University in New Jersey. His wife remembers driving her husband around a subdivision near the university in the winter of 1983, Robert randomly knocking on doors asking if there were any rooms for rent. Surprisingly, he found one with the Pawson family and ended up not only staying with the family for both semesters but becoming lifelong friends.
In Hamilton, much of Robert’s work involved caring for the trees in the city’s golf courses, which is where he was when he tumbled from the tree on that bitterly cold January day.
Robert would spend the next year and a half in hospital, struggling to let his legs heal and developing the bone infection, osteomyelitis. He never complained.
“He was in casts for so long, the knees didn’t bend anymore,” said his wife. “The right leg was really bad.”
His wife said Robert did slip into depression at the beginning and was afraid to leave the hospital at first but learned to change his bandages with Joyce helping when she returned from her office job.
Eventually, he clawed his way back to happiness, and the two established a life together, one where they would travel by car or on bus tours, visiting old barns and mills, mainly in the U.S. and Ontario.
The couple, who didn’t have children, would also attend conventions where disability products were showcased. He was particularly interested in the latest developments in wheelchairs. He did have some mobility when he walked with crutches.
“He handled it all pretty good,” said his wife.
Robert’s health started to deteriorate recently, and a checkup revealed a problem: Robert had adrenal cancer and breathing issues. He was hospitalized for more than a month and eventually developed COVID-19. After he was moved to a COVID hospital ward, Joyce never saw him again. Robert died on May 5, 2021.
A man of great faith, Joyce said, “he didn’t want to live any more; he was ready to go.”