ARTHUR HENRY JOSEPH
OSTERKRUGER
1940 – 2020
We knew this day would come, just not when, that we would have to write an obituary for our dad, brother-in-law, uncle and friend to many. Joe’s family has recently learned that he passed away in his 80th year at his home in Toronto in January 2020. The youngest child of Pete and Jenny (Muenster) Osterkruger, Joe was born and raised in Gordon Township. The family eventually moved to Gore Bay,
settling into their home on New Street. Many will remember Joe from his years living and working on Manitoulin, primarily in Gore Bay. He was gregarious, kind, lovable (and oh so handsome!). Joe moved to Toronto in the mid 60s where he married and had two daughters. There was no happily ever after for the young couple and divorce followed. Joe and his oldest daughter returned to the family home in Gore Bay to live with his mother Jenny. The death of Jenny in 1974 started a chain reaction of events that dramatically impacted Joe. He eventually returned to Toronto where he lived for almost three decades. Joe was a sensitive individual who struggled with a personal and complex sadness that kept him absent from the family who loved him. Joe is survived by his daughters Karen and Cathy, grandchildren Lily and Sawyer, brother-in-law Barkley Hawkins, sister-in-law Betty Johns, and a bouquet of nieces and nephews included in the Towns, Hawkins, Osterkruger, Kruger, Ogsten and Bailey families. In Heaven, along with Pete and Jenny, Joe is reunited with his siblings Karen, Edith, Gus, Archie, Armand, Evelyn, Mysa and Molly. The Joe we all remember was a kind and loving man who was full of laughter, willing to lend a helping hand, who stuttered but always got his point across and one who will never be forgotten. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
There is no night without a dawning
No winter without a spring
And beyond the dark horizon
Our hearts will once more sing…
For those who leave us for a while
Have only gone away
Out of a restless, care worn world
Into a brighter day.
- Helen Steiner Rice
