Eulogy for Winfried Rompf
Read on November 28, 2021
Winfried Rompf was born July 5, 1941, in Bremen, Germany, to his parents, Elsa and Ernst Rompf. Win was the second born to three sons, Gunther, being the first, and Ernst Albert, being the third. Post war, in search of a promising future, the Rompf family emigrated to Canada, in the year of 1952, sailing across the ocean blue, on the ship, Beaverbrae. Once landing in the Maritimes, they travelled across the country to settle on British Columbia’s north coast of Prince Rupert.
Win completed his high school in Prince Rupert in 1959. After working in the town’s pulp mill for a couple of years to earn money for university, Win moved to the lower mainland to start his studies at UBC, in 1961. For room and board, he moved into the Luking house where his friendship and musical partnership with Hans began!
What a splendid relationship they had! As shared to us by Win, his parents, Elsa and Ernst were adamant that he study commerce and business, but as you all know, with his overwhelming passion for music, he spent all of his non-class time in the music department-of course!
Winfried found his church home here, at Immanuel Baptist. With it’s strong German roots, only German-speaking services were held. It wasn’t long before Winfried was involved in all of the music ministry that the church offered, such as accompanying hymns, choir and special musical events. (Winfried had always eagerly served in music ministry, even as a preteen, playing the organ in Prince Rupert.) As a very young boy, Win had taught himself to play, but once moving to Vancouver, he had the honour of studying piano privately, under the tutelage of well-known pianist, Edward Parker. For Win, this was a dream come true.
After completing his university degree, Winfried started his working career in administration, with the Canadian Postal Service. Shortly after that, he continued working as an administrator for the Federal Penitentiary Service.
In 1966, another dream come true happened: Win met the love of his life, Margarete Erna Heckel. The two met through the youth group at Immanuel Baptist. Not wasting anytime, and knowing she was the one for him, Winfried proposed to Margarete on their very first date alone. The two were married in December 29th of 1966.
Sixteen months after their wedding, Margarete and Winfried welcomed their first child, Michael, into the world. Soon after, in 1969, Win’s work took the family of three across the country to Ottawa. There, their second child and daughter, Carmen, was born. It was only one year later that Win and Margarete, both homesick for BC, decided to move back and settled into their new and final home together, in Richmond BC. (They lived in this same house until this very year.) In 1971, it was here they welcomed their third born, Tobias.
After a number of years, Win changed careers from the Federal Penitentiary Service, to working for the provincial government as an administrator for Pearson Hospital and the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. This enabled him to work closer to home.
After years of employment with his provincial government position, unexpected restructuring occurred and Win’s job position was eliminated. He was faced with a decision-apply for a new position elsewhere or take the opportunity to pursue his piano full-time & as his only source of income. He seized the opportunity and never looked back. This became the biggest blessing for Win-to pursue his passion to become a full-time musician, piano teacher and performer. Winfried quickly outfitted his home to allow for full-time teaching in his studio, while also teaching at the BC Conservatory of Music.
Win’s musical resume includes the organizing of the Gloria Ensemble, which featured a small orchestra and choir, that performed chamber music in many churches throughout the lower mainland. He was also a music pastor for Trinity Baptist and First Baptist churches in Vancouver.
He connected with other pianists and musicians (locally and internationally), to perform in multi piano festivals and concerts. He played with the VSO. There were many local performances at venues such as the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Chan Centre, the Sun Yat-Sen Garden, as well as internationally, in Europe and Asia. This was one of his greatest joys indeed.
To our families (including eight grandchildren plus their two spouses), Win was a wonderful father, father-in-law and grandfather. He was truly loved by us all.
Dad had great depth of character. He was a gentle, compassionate and warm person. It wasn’t often he didn’t have a smile on his face or warm words to share with you. He was ambitious- with so many concerts in Canada and abroad that he organized or was a part of in some way, or whether it was adjudicating or making CDs, he was always on the go. He was thoughtful- if he could help you in some way, he would, without hesitation. He also had very strong opinions and didn’t easily back down from his level of perspective.
Dad detested cheese, sipping from the same cup, mice, being barefoot, sitting idle for a long period of time, sun-bathing, watching sports on tv, rock and roll, rap music or anything of the like. Unlike Margarete, he wasn’t very competitive playing board games…in fact, he would try to help you win the game. (That wasn’t always as fun.)
Dad loved his walks, conversation, coffee, sightseeing, history and concerts. But apart from deeply loving the Lord first and foremost, he especially loved people and music.
Win truly enjoyed being with people. He genuinely cared for others. Whether at church, concerts, teaching, gathered with friends or with family, he wanted that connection with others. People were important to him.
To Dad, music wasn’t music unless it was a hymnal or of classical genre. If dad wasn’t teaching, practicing, performing or talking about it, he was listening to it. He was intensely passionate about music. Music flowed through his veins. We joked that dad would be playing piano until the day he died. And so he did. I can only imagine how much more beautiful music in heaven sounds now, with Win added to the orchestra.
But make no mistake; even though music and people were his passion, his unwavering faith in Christ and fervor for the Lord were most important to him. He stood by what he believed with depth of conviction. Whether we were gathered together as a family or with extended family-Omas, Opas, aunts, uncles and grandchildren or just one on one, Dad found it important to honour Christ in some way. He wanted us to remember what really mattered- our relationship with Jesus. To us, his family, he is remembered for his generous, gentle and unconditional love. We are grateful for our time with Win on this earth. As our father, grandfather and friend, he will be deeply missed by us all.