Dallas Earl Gastmeier

1912 - 2005  (92 years)

• Name	Dallas Earl Gastmeier
  Born	6 Jul 1912	, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/219470358
  Residence	1953	, Venzuela
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-232890
  Died	2005	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	Bridgeport Memorial Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I232890	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	Orson Jacob "Ory" Gastmeier,   b. 8 Dec 1887, Bridgeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 26 Feb 1953, Bridgeport (Kitchener), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 65 years)
  Mother	Annoinette "Nettie" Bisch,   b. 21 Nov 1886, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 24 Jan 1981  (Age 94 years)
  Married	18 Oct 1911	Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada
  Family ID	F50908	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Talking Business By HENRY KOCH Record Business Editor When Dallas Gastmeier of Bridgeport packed his bags and set sail for Caracas, Venezuela, on a bitter cold December morning in 1939, be had no idea he'd be saying goodbye to Canada, But that's how things have worked out. He was 28 then. During the Dirty Thirties he worked at B. F. Goodrich Canada Ltd. in the mill room, was a tire builder at Uniroyal Ltd. (then) Dominion Rubber Co. Ltd.), ran the Bridgeport post office and drove a taxi for Kelly Kellerman in Kitchener. THEN he joined a Montreal amusement ride company as a technician. The company asked him to go to Venezuela to set up and operate a "flying scooter" airplane-type ride on steel cables in a Cara cas amusement park. The equipment was manufactured by an uncle, Alvin Bisch of Chicago. Mr. Gastmeler expected to be in Venezuela for a couple of weeks. But he soon "fell in love with the climate and slower pace" and stayed for 32 years. HE LEARNED to speak Spanish fluently, married a girl from Hamburg, West Germany, after courting her by mail for a year, raised two sons and now is president of a company which manufactures and leases corn-husking and harvesting equipment. The company is located in Chaguaramas, a town in the central part of Venezuela, and he lives in Valla de la Pascua, a city of 60,000 about 20 miles. away MR. GASTMEIER is spending a month in town with his mother, 84-year-old Mrs. Nettie Gastmeier and sister, Mrs. Stanley Seitz, who both live at 142 Queen St. S. He has two other sisters, Mrs. Grace Stoner of Kitchener and Mrs. Marjorie Baldwin of Toronto and three brothers, Clyde of Petersburg Howard of Kitchener and Lloyd of New Zealand. He's "come home" four other times in the 32 years in 1946, 1962, 1968 and 1964, always in the summer. HE HASN'T seen snow since that December day in 1939 (except in the Venezuelan mountains), and doesn't miss it. He donated his heavy overcoat to a destitute man in Caracas. Between setting up the amusement ride in Caracas and operating the harvesting equipment company which. employs 60, Mr. Gastmeier worked as a carnival ride technician, became a member of a geophysical oil exploration team for an Oklahoma company and operated a service station in Chaguaramas for 10 years. LIVING in Venezuela required considerable adjustment Besides having to learn Spanish, he had to figure out the monetary system, measurements in kilos and litres and the temperature on the centigrade thermometer. And he soon discovered that Venezuelan government and civic officials did not refuse money "under the table" for special favors. "We call it SOP-standard operational procedure in Venezuela." Long-time residents can get away with smaller bribes. Visitors or newcomers have to shell out more. THIS applies to anything from traffic violations to immigration. The former Bridgeport man said Venezuela does not have the restrictions and controls that Canada has and taxes are not nearly as high as they are here. Kitchener-Waterloo Record - 24 Aug 1972, Thu Page 18

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 6 Jul 1912 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 2005 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Bridgeport Memorial Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth