It has been many months now since the loss of my wonderful University professor and mentor, Dr. Manfred Prokop, but I know that you his closest family and loved ones will miss him now and always. My deep sympathy at your great loss. He was a gentleman and a scholar! Like many of the people who wrote condolences, I was grateful and fortunate to be among his German language and cultural students, perhaps an exception as I did not come from a German background! Manfred was the most wonderfully supportive teacher, making us feel like going above and beyond, as he drew out the best from us, and so many of us (80’s/early 90’s) who studied under him in the German Department of the university of Alberta, which he so ably led, had our lives directly and so positively effected and influenced by him, in that learning experience! In my case, he encouraged me to apply both for the 1986 Freiburg DAAD scholarship and later for the year long DAAD which I spent in Marburg 89-90. He led a department that was flexible enough to allow me to do my German and linguistic studies while also studying physiotherapy! This was an administrative feat! I was one of the exec and active member of the German club in the late 1980s and we had a great time, including putting on an annual (and very whimsical) variety show which Dr. Prokop invariably and good naturedly attended. We even got Dr. Prokop to do a cameo in one of those plays. What a good sport. He really created a sense of family. The people I met in those years through German club became lifelong loyal dear friends. Like attracts like - I knew several of my friends wanted to become teachers or professors like him. We were all very happy when he received the prestigious teaching award from the university. Well-deserved. It was my delight to reconnect with him in (much) later years, share some old memories and pass around his latest (retirement) work to some interested parties. The last time I saw him was when I invited him to be a special surprise guest at my good friend Hannah‘s farewell party, in 2023. I have posted a tiny video clip of that occasion. You can tell by the way people responded that they still felt the same after all those years. How grateful I am to have known him. My sincere condolences to Nova and the Prokop family. He was a real gem of the human being and will be greatly missed. - Alles ganz Lieb - Linda MacDonald, Sherwood Park, AB

Philip Raworth

I was shocked and greatly saddened to learn yesterday that my good friend Manfred died three months ago. He and his wife arrived in Canada at the same time as myself and my wife, and we were both in the Germanic Department. My wife and I spent many pleasant evenings with Manfred and Christiane playing skat (Christiane always won!)

Manfred was a loyal and devoted friend. On the occasion of my own wife's death in 2021, he and Nova made the journey to Edmonton from Okotoks just to express their condolences on the passing of the beautiful woman who was the love of my life.

I am glad that Manfred had that last cruise and was able to visit the exquisite city of Cartagena. I deeply regret, however, that I did not get to see him before his death.

Deep sympathy to you from me, a grateful student, inspired enough by Professor Prokop to look him up in Okotoks, where he & Nova hosted me for a nostalgic KaffeeKlatsch decades after I left Alberta for an international career, then returning to Edmonton, where I seek to reconnect to some Alberta roots, including you. Manfred also facilitated my study abroad in Freiburg (like Jane Berk) which set me on a diplomatic & aid path. His class went beyond lecture & rote; he played us Wagner's overture of Der Fliegender Hollaender, a favourite of his... and mine. His lovely assistant Frau Lederer typed my thesis on Goethe & the French Revolution. I invite you to contact me at ralph.osterwoldt@gmail.com Dankeschoen lieber Manfred, a real gentleman. Ralph O

Dr. Prokop was an excellent German literature professor who was kind to his students and worked hard to help them understand the complexity of German literature. I really appreciated all the help he gave me.

My deepest condolences. Dr Prokop was my instructor and mentor while I was at university and was the person who actually changed my life. He encouraged me to try for scholarships with DAAD and a teaching assistant job through the PAD. I did, to make him happy, because he was such an inspiring individual. When I got both the scholarship and the job I was shocked. This move to Germany, first to Freiburg and then to a town near Giessen resulted in the rest of my life being changed. I met my husband while in Germany and stayed in Germany for 17 years, teaching, tutoring, and translating, raising a family and building a house. We eventually moved back to Edmonton in 2000. I will always be grateful to him for his influence and the belief that I could achieve more than I did at the time. As I said, life changing. I am forever grateful to have known him.

Dear Nova, Dear Thomas and family. Dr. Prokop/Manfred was and will always remain a stellar human being in my mind and in the hearts and minds of many. His gentleness, his humble nature, his compassion, his passion for learning and for all things around German Canadian history, his inquisitiveness, his caring nature, his dedication to the betterment of human society, the list goes on. He will be sorely missed, leaving behind an enormous hole that can only be filled with gratitude and memories. Hannah Noerenberg, former student and later fellow teaching colleague. (What an honour when he proposed I get on a first name basis with him, the move from Sie to Du being such a big thing in German etiquette!!)

Dear Nova, Tom and family. I was very much saddened to learn of Manfred‘s passing. He was my professor as well as a mentor and good friend during both my undergraduate and graduate studies in the Department of Germanic Languages, and after graduation, I also worked with him on a project to gather information on the settlement and history of German-speaking people in Alberta. Manfred was a wonderful person and touched the lives of so many people in a positive way; he will be dearly missed. My sincere condolences to you and your family.

My sincerest condolences to Tom and family. Thinking about you today.

My deepest sympathy. I knew Manfred Prokop better from his many publications about the Germans in Canada and in Alberta in particular, when I worked at the University of Waterloo between 2001 and 2017. Although I met him only occasionally at conferences, I learned a lot from him ... He will be missed.

In 1991 when I returned to the workforce after a 14-year absence I was fortunate to be hired as the administrator in the Department of Germanic Languages which was then chaired by Manfred Prokop and I worked for Manfred for four very happy years. He was precise and exacting in his requests (never demands) which were never unreasonable and he was always full of praise for a job well done. He made sure that I was kept up to date with new technologies and, thanks to him, I learned how to deal with email, Windows and a mouse (much to my initial horror) for which I am forever grateful.

We never managed to agree on the use of I should vs. I would – being originally English I preferred I should which Manfred did not, and he preferred far fewer commas than those I was apt to sprinkle over written texts.

When I retired in 2007, ten years after Manfred himself retired, he wrote me such a lovely note wishing all good things for my retirement. He hoped that I would remember “the place and the people for the good times we had” and, when I think back fondly to those days, it is with the knowledge that he made the good times possible.

Jan Chalk

I knew Manfred for many years as a colleague in German studies in Canada. Whenever we met at conferences, he was always generous with his time and keen to discuss all manner of topics. I always enjoyed my interactions with him and found him to be a kindly figure and a true gentleman with a gentle smile. My heartfelt condolences to his family.

We were so honored to have known Manfred. He was a gentleman 's gentleman. A very humble, yet wise man. High tea was our last visit with Manfred and Nova and it was an honor to serve him tea. Our heartfelt condolences to the families. Mike and Bonnie

Dear Nova, Tom and Family,

I was very saddened to learn of Manfred's passing. I studied at the U of Alberta in the 1990s and had the privilege of knowing him as a teacher, mentor and friend. He was (and is still) one of my favourite people, and I respected and adored him.

I taught German for many years in the Continuing Education Departments at the U of Toronto and George Brown College, and Manfred's influence as an educator was so established and far reaching that a reference from him opened up doors without so much as an interview.

Manfred was also incredibly kind to us graduate students and seemed to have endless reserves of patience and time, the latter I now realize was likely not the case especially when he was Department Head. There was a standing weekly or so invite to the Faculty Club to enjoy a (!) pitcher of beer and some nachos, and he and Chris organized many BBQs and holiday get-togethers for grad students at their home in Sherwood Park. As a transplanted Ontarian, I especially appreciated these kind gestures.

Manfred and I kept in touch throughout the years (mostly by email), sharing all of life's comings and goings. Nova, we've never met, but Manfred wrote a lot about your life together, especially about your travels and your family, all of which sounded wonderful!

As mentioned yesterday in a note to Tom, I last saw Manfred in 2015 in Naples, Florida, when my husband and I were vacationing on the opposite coast. We drove across the state to have lunch and a visit, and were taken on an extended driving tour of the city, beach and pier. A lovely memory.

My sincere condolences to Nova, Tom and family as you navigate this difficult time. Please know your husband and father was cherished!

Jackie Doig