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May 13, 1933 - December 26, 2022
In loving memory ~
Theophil Fredrich, a Cedar, B.C. resident for 56 years, quietly passed away on December 26th, 2022, at age 89 in the Palliative Care Unit at Nanaimo General Hospital.
Theo was born on May 13th, 1933, in a German community in Bessarabia (now Moldova), the second eldest son to Lydia and Israel. Theo leaves his loving wife Margaret, son Theophil Tynan (Taylor) and his beloved grandchildren Lorelei and Bodhi as well as seven siblings; Erna of Calgary, Alwin (Gerda) of Kelowna, Frieda, Siegfried, and Erika all of Nanaimo, Hilda of Lethbridge, Heinz (Millie) of Calgary, as well as 18 nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his father in 1959, his mother in 1983 and his eldest brother Erwin in November 2022.
While living his first seven years in Bessarabia, Theo and his family were relocated in 1940 to three different refugee camps until January 1945 when they finally were resettled in Northern Germany where they lived until their immigration to a farming community in Southern Alberta in 1955.
Theo entered a three-year beekeepers apprenticeship program in Germany at age 14 and attained a Journeyman Beekeepers status when he immigrated to Canada in 1955. The first years after immigration were spent on a mixed farm in Southern Alberta
In 1966, Theo, with his brother Erwin, purchased a property in Cedar where they lived with their mother until she moved into Nanaimo. "Fredrich's Honey" was started on this property. The business continues to operate under that name although it is now under new ownership. During his early years in Cedar, Theo made many friends through his involvement in the German Club and in the Beekeepers Association. Theo offered many seminars for amateur beekeepers on the Cedar property over the years sharing his knowledge of bees and the industry he loved.
Theo married Margaret in 1974. Their son Theophil Tynan was born in Nanaimo and grew up on the Cedar property. Theo and Margaret built the hexagon-shaped house in the early years of the marriage. They continued to live in that house until their son Theo, his wife Taylor and their two children exchanged residences with Theo and Margaret for the suite above the "Honey House" a few years ago. During those years Theo and Margaret travelled to the Fairmont Empress in Victoria monthly at the hotel's request to manage the bee hives on the hotel property and educate the public and visitors to Victoria on the merits of beekeeping and its benefits to the environment and worldwide food production. The honey produced by the hives at the Empress Hotel was used in their tearoom.
In 2021, Theo completed his book "From the Black Sea to the Pacific - as I remember it", an accomplishment he had set out as a goal in his much younger years. He was an avid writer of poetry in both English and German, often for special occasions within the family, the German community or for friends.
Arrangements for a Memorial will be announced at a later date.



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