With great sadness we announce that Siegfried Otto Kemmler (Siggi) passed away on May 27, 2022, at the age of 84. Predeceased by brothers Walter (1945) and Arno (2008), Siggi is survived by his wife of 67 years, Maria, as well as his four children (Eva-Maria, Siegfried, Robert, and Annette), 12 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren.

Born in Leipzig, Germany, on December 13, 1937, by his early teens he had escaped from communist East Germany to the West. He met his vibrant wife, Maria, in a chance encounter one evening in Heidenheim, and was instantly struck that she would be his life partner.

Siggi was bold and adventurous throughout his life. In April 1960, he swept up his wife and two young children and crossed the Atlantic to start a new life in Canada. Soon after landing in Hamilton, ON, Siggi joined the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra, having learned to play the violin at the age of six. Later, he started working in the steel industry and after a few years decided to move his family to British Columbia after falling in love with the natural beauty of the West. Siggi’s career as a millwright, foreman, and other roles took his family to amazing locations including Prince Rupert, Kitimat, Gold River, Tahsis, Crofton, Duncan, and the TRIUMF facility at UBC.

In the late 1960s, Siggi and Maria discovered a love for sailing after purchasing a small 20 ft. sloop. In 1981, after Siggi taught himself celestial navigation and acquired his HAM radio license, they sailed their sloop Tanager to Hawaii and back.

Conditions of his childhood did not present him an opportunity for secondary education, a lifelong desire. With the unwavering support of Maria, and after five years of dedicated study and work, Siggi realized his dream when in November 1988 he was granted a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in philosophy and English. His passion for education was further expressed in the financial support he provided each of his grandchildren that sought higher education.

In 1994 Siggi and Maria built their retirement home in Duncan and crafted much of their five acres into a gorgeous, forested, rhododendron, azalea, and flower paradise. Siggi’s passion for learning endured throughout his retirement, evident in his remarkable collection of gorgeous books. So too his passion for sailing endured; in 2015 he crewed for a friend from BC to San Diego, and he continued sailing in and around Vancouver Island, single-handed, through to the summer of 2021 (at the age of 83!). Unstoppable, passionate, loving, and always available for meaningful conversation, a good laugh, and a great glass of wine; you are loved so very much and dearly missed.