Alfred (Al) Gordon Juenke
July 11, 1938 – January 22, 2022
Please join us for a celebration of life for Alfred (Al) Juenke July 16, 2022 at the Juenke’s family camp.
For directions please contact Gary at gary.juenke@gmail.com
This will be a come and go from 1 pm to 4 pm to share stories and honour Al. If you have a story or picture you wish to share, they would be very welcome. Snacks will be available and some cold beverages. If you have specific favourites, please BYOB.
It is with sadness we announce the passing of Alfred (Al) Juenke at home with his family at his side. Born July 11, 1938, passed January 22, 2022. He was a great husband, brother, uncle, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend to many and will be fondly remembered and forever missed by all who knew and loved him. Always a smile a joke or kind word and constantly supportive of all his family and friends. Many messages of condolences summed it up simply by “He was just a great man”
Al was born in Smith Siding Manitoba, 4th oldest of 11 children, to Arthur and Adailia Juenke attending school there until he was needed to go to work at the age of 14 after his mother passed to support the family.
He worked locally and at home to help support his younger siblings doing all manner of work, farming, logging and construction as needed. He took a job in Ontario at 17 for Ontario Hydro at the Caribou Falls Dam and then on to Dryden in 1958 where he realized this was where he wanted to live.
When in Dryden he hired on with a local logging contractor supplying Dryden Paper with wood driving and caring for horse teams in the Snake Bay area and then (fibbed) his age to hire on at the mill with Dryden Paper. He worked several roles before trying his hand at Bricklayer and then bid on a position to become a steam fitter where he worked for 41 years before he retired.
During his early days in Dryden he met, fell in love with and married Susie (Sue) Braun in 1961 and remained side by side for 60 years up to and including January 22, 2022.
Al and Sue immediately started building a future they could never have imagined would become such a legacy of pride and love called family and friends. They raised two children who each raised two children who raised many more children until even the wide-angle lenses couldn’t capture them all in a family photo.
Al loved spending time with Sue as well as camping, fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, spending time with his boys and their wives and their kids and their kids. Always focused on family and friends. He loved nothing more than to be a presence in all that any of them did. He rarely missed an event and was the driving force behind all the laughs, pranks, loud yells and entertainment at these events. Al loved life and proved it with what appeared to be a permanent smile tattooed on his face that was absolutely infectious! In his later years he especially liked going to the Juenke Family Cabin on Wabigoon Lake to enjoy the goings on that a busy family brings to each outing.
Al is survived by his wife Sue, brother Armand Juenke, sons Gary (Linda) and Greg (Chandelle), grandchildren Megan Power (Joel), Jessica Bridge (Colton), Krista Berry and Devon Juenke (Brianna), great-grandchildren Ryan, Marley, Ferron, Casper and Farley as well as numerous in laws, nieces and nephews.
Al was predeceased in his immediate family by his parents Arthur and Adailia and siblings Dorothy, Irene, Eddie, Roselee, Herbie, Allan, Lawrence, Clifford and Linda.
Respecting Al’s wishes, a private family service will be held at a later date.
If desired friends and family can make donations to the Dryden Food Bank or charity of choice on behalf of Al through the Dryden Community Funeral Home, 249 Grand Trunk Avenue, Dryden, ON P8N 2X3
Condolences may be posted at www.dcfh.ca
