Claus Spiekermann passed way in Kamloops on August 5 after a long battle with severe diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, nearly four weeks short of his 74th birthday.
In 1974 he moved to Bowen with his wife Lorraine and small sons, Collin and Wesley. By then he had been a very young principal in Boundary Community School in North Vancouver. With the rapidly increasing settlement of young families on Bowen and an inadequate local school, Claus’s call for a “re-think” of the educational structure on the island prompted him to interest parents and community members at large in the Community School Concept.
Having moved my family permanently to Bowen Island in 1977, I received a phone call one day from Caroline Headley. She invited my wife Marianne and me to participate in the formation of the Bowen Island Community Association. After listening to several of my “ifs” and “buts”, she said : “You have four children who will go through our school. Now you have a chance to help shape the community’s involvement in school life. If you don’t participate and don’t like it later, don’t complain!”
I did participate and thus began for me one of the most rewarding learning processes in democracy, thanks to Claus’s fair and thorough exploration of the concept.
Claus was born in Hamborn, Germany, “the Ruhrgebiet”, in 1941. He survived the horrific ravages of the bombing raids, chaos and starvation, but his parents’ marriage did not. In 1951 his mother and he immigrated to Canada and he grew up in Prince George, BC. His critical mind brought him the encouragement of teachers to go to university. He studied education. During those years he met Lorraine, a beautiful, warm-hearted woman, a wonderful counterbalance to his temperament.
From a young age he was sensitive to social justice and eventually became an outspoken defender. At 6-foot-plus and more than 300 pounds he presented an imposing figure.
Having moved his family to Bowen Island in 1974, he offered his services as a school trustee from Bowen Island, then part of the Sunshine Coast School District, #46 and later as Islands Trustee from 1992 to 1996. In the 1983 provincial election, he stood as the NDP candidate for West Vancouver/Howe Sound, a riding reaching up to D’Arcy. He knew it would be an uphill battle and didn’t win, but he doubled the vote from the previous election. He asked me to be his aide and I learned what it takes to be on the hustings.
Another team member was the legendary Squamish Chief in North Vancouver, Philip Joe. Claus was principal of Queen Mary Community School by then, situated close to the Reserve and thus it had a sizable number of native students. As a CSA member Philip became so taken with Claus’s “same rights for all” attitude that he offered to introduce him to the various Nations in the riding. At a later date he was made an honorary member of the Squamish Nation, given a name and a talking stick.
Together with Gail Taylor and the support of a referendum Claus initiated the process for BICS, a new school, which had to be expanded twice since its inauguration in 1980. Lorraine supported his community involvement and became BICS secretary and CS Coordinator from 1982 to1983.
With Georg Helenius Sr. and his backhoe, John Rich and others, they participated in weekend volunteer work groups building a septic field or a foundation for a needy family. Thanks to Claus and Lorraine the earliest Bowfests 1977 to 1979 were great successes including hot air balloon rides from the festival field.
All the while giving generously of his free time, he was a dedicated teacher and effective principal joined for many years by colleague and friend Brian Hodgins and Bowen Islanders Ira Appelbaum and Horst Mann.
However, as a gardener, kayaker and brew master he showed lesser talents. Lorraine, who was a skilled woodworker, had just completed their new kitchen cabinets when Claus decided to make some home brew, which he stored in the new drawers after bottling. One sultry summer night a “popping noise” could be heard coming from the kitchen and then “the hiss” of escaping liquid under pressure and then another pop and another. Anxious to stop the artillery barrage in the cupboards Claus was about to pull the drawers out but then thought it to be best not to be hit by flying bottle caps. The kitchen floor was awash and the new cabinets were coloured in an unusual aromatic stain ever afterwards.
The Spiekermann and Behm families shared many adventures such as walking the tunnels , trestles and bridges of the Kettle Valley Railway in the early ’80s or visiting the cowboy poet and story teller, Corky Williams, on his swamp ranch 60 km north of Anaheim Lake. On that trip, the Behms lost the engine in their VW Crew Cab. Claus returned to Vancouver, bought a rebuilt motor and drove it back up, 1,000 kilometres each way.
After retirement in 1996 Claus and Lorraine left Bowen Island and settled in Grand Forks. In 2002 cancer took Lorraine. A few years later Esther came into his life. Yet, while under treatment in Israel, she too succumbed to cancer in her home in Jerusalem. Claus then left Grand Forks and moved to Kamloops to be closer to son Colin and his family.
Parkinson’s and severe diabetes had already taken their toll on him. In 2009, he hired me to plan and take him on a month-long trip around the Baltic, Denmark, Germany and to Austria by cruise ship, plane and car. He was now constantly dependant upon his wheelchair. He needed assistance with his medications. His bed had to be adjusted to 75 cm height and this very specific requirement needed to be negotiated in each hotel.
He enjoyed the comforts of the “Eurodam”, sights of the Amber Coast of Mecklenburg, St Petersburg, the Sarinnen estate in Helsinki and a visit with an old friend from Bowen Island, Kurt Larsen, in Denmark.
Rolling through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, listening to a concert in the newly re-built Frauenkirche in Dresden and watching the white Lipizaner stallions in Vienna going through the moves of a dress performance gave Claus a vivid historical perspective. In Bavaria he visited with his favourite uncle for the last time.
During our journey together I experienced his deep humanitarian commitment, zest for life and sense of humour. Behind all this also lived a lonely man, with pain and doubts. Above all, he was a most loyal friend.
After returning to Canada his health gradually descended and on August 5 he left us. He was one of Bowen’s greatest community builders.
