Obituary of Erich Reinhold SCHLUFF

August 19, 1935 – Ragnit, Germany

April 9, 2020 - Calgary, Alberta

Erich Reinhold Schluff, beloved husband of Pauline Marie Yvonne Schluff (nee Savard) of Calgary, AB, passed away on April 9, 2020 at the age of 84 years.

Erich was born in East Prussia, the third of nine children. He started school, but couldn't continue when the war started. His family became refugees when he was 8 years old and traveled across war torn Germany, with trains rarely running and very little food. The older children carried the younger ones. His only sister was the youngest and just a baby. The only thing they brought with them was a sewing machine on wheels that they could pull. They eventually arrived in Austria, where he spent fourteen months in a refugee camp.　 Once the war ended, all German citizens returned to Germany, where he grew up in the town of Dettingen.　 He started school again in grade 5 and apprenticed as a painter at 14. He worked as a journeyman painter in Germany and Canada. He was always very active, and soccer was his main sport. As a teenager he would run fourteen miles to play in nearby villages.

At age 21, Erich came to Canada on the ship "Groote Beer", landing in Montreal. It was 1956. He migrated to Saskatoon where he learned English. While completing high school, he worked as a journeyman painter. Later he enrolled in electrical engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. During his first exam his professor had to teach him how to use a slide rule.　

Erich was in his first year of engineering when he met Pauline. It was love at first sight.　 On their　first　dates they went　dancing. They married a couple of years later, and continued to dance beautifully together throughout their lives. After graduating, he took a job with B.C. Hydro and Pauline and Erich lived in Vancouver. Ten months later they were in Whitecourt, Alberta, where Erich began his career in Oil & Gas.　 This is where his daughter Monique was born. When she was 7 months old, his young family went to Calgary to prepare to move overseas.　　

Over the next thirteen years, the family lived overseas in the　Middle East. They moved to Tripoli, Libya just in time for the coup. They stayed there for five years, living in a villa with a view of the Mediterranean Sea.　 Always a gardener, Erich planted grape vines and a banana tree. During this time his son Kevin was born.　 When Kevin was three, the family moved to Saudi Arabia and spent six years in Dhahran and Ras Tanura.　 Because school there only went to grade nine for expatriate students, the family moved rather than sending Monique to boarding school. The Ma'adi suburb of Cairo, Egypt was home for eighteen months before returning to Canada in 1982.　　

After 18 months in Sherwood Park, the family moved to Calgary. During this time, Erich and Pauline bought a trailer near Innisfail in Carefree Resort and spent many happy summers there with their children and friends. Erich's favourite things were always time with family, bird watching, and nature walks. Monique's family, husband Mike and children Alexander and Kimberly, and Kevin's family, wife Anna and children Ella and Krystyna often joined them at the lake. He loved his four grandchildren, and was beloved by them.　 Whether at the lake, at home or in the homes of his children, Erich found joy when surrounded by his family.

Besides his loving wife, Erich is remembered by his brother-in-law Marcel, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.

A private Memorial Service will be held. Condolences, memories and photos may be shared and viewed on Erich’s obituary at www.McInnisandHolloway.com.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Alberta, 200, 119 – 14th Street N.W., Calgary, AB T2N 1Z6 Telephone: (403) 264-5549, www.heartandstroke.ca.

In living memory of Erich Schluff, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Crowfoot, 82 Crowfoot Circle NW, CALGARY, AB T3G 2T3, Telephone: 403-241-0044.