Ada May Hagey

Other Events:

• Name: Ada May Bechtel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-24684
• Residence: 1911, Breslau, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Methodist

Notes:

Mrs. Norman A. Bechtel

Mrs. Norman A. Bechtel. formerly of Highland Road East, died today at the Freeport Hospital after a lengthy illness. She was 72. The former Ada M. Hagey, she was born near Preston, a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Hagey and had lived in the Twin City area for many years. She was a volunteer worker for the Canadian Red Cross Society. Mrs. Bechtel was predeceased by her husband in September, 1969: one son, John, in 1964 and by two brothers. Surviving are one son, Willard H. (Bud) of Waterloo: one daughter, Maxine E. of Kitchener; one brother, Howard of Blair and two sisters, Mrs. William (Eva) Robbins and Mrs. Harry (Pearl) Radtke, both of Kitchener and four grandchildren. The body will be at the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home, after 2 p.m. Wednesday, where Rev Dr. Frank H. Morgan of Trinity United Church, will conduct a service and committal at 2 p.m., Thursday. Burial will be in Blair cemetery.

Kitchener-Waterloo Record 9 Mar 1971 pg 24

Ada married Norman A. Bechtel 4 Jul 1917, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Norman (son of John M. Bechtel and Elizabeth Stumpf) was born 25 Oct 1894, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; died Sep 1969. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Bud Bechtel
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-167593
• Residence: 1966, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Willard — Josephine Evelyn Zinger. Josephine was born 1919; died 7 Mar 2012, Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada; was buried , Cremated. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-167594
• Residence: 1966, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Other Events:

• Artist: painter
• Military: WW2 - air gunner RCAF
• Name: Jack Bechtel
• Occupation: artist - painter
• Residence: Port Dover, Norfolk Co., Ontario
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-104790
• Residence: 1958, Blair (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

Artist Jack Bechtel Dies of Cancer at 43

Artist Jack Bechtel of Blair, 43, died today of cancer at St. Mary's Hospital after an illness of several months. Although his abstract paintings were frequently shown in exhibits through Ontario, he was also known to many art students for the numerous classes in painting he conducted.

He taught summer classes at the Doon School of Fine Arts from 1950 to 1964, and during the same period instructed adults in winter classes in Brantford, Delhi, Dundas, Guelph, Port Dover, Tillsonburg, Galt, Stratford, Ingersoll and Fort William - Port Arthur.

His best-known work in the Twin Cities is probably the Kitchener library mural, Enlightenment, which he completed in six months of night work in 1962. The 560-square foot mural depicts man's historical striving for knowledge.

His paintings have been included among exhibits by the Ontario Society of Artists, of which Mr. Bechtel was a member, and the Royal College of Art. They also appeared in gallery exhibits in Montreal, Toronto, Kingston, London, Ont., Hamilton, and smaller Ontario cities.

A son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Bechtel of Kitchener, he began painting when he was about 14, and spent his week-ends bicycling and skiing through rural areas of Waterloo County to sketch the scenes that were frequent subjects of his earlier, realist works.

After overseas service as an air gunner with the RCAF in the Second World War, he attended the Ontario College of Art for four years, followed by six months of study at the Instituto de San Miguel d'Allende in Mexico on scholarship.

He lived in Port Dover before returning to this area eight years ago to establish his home and studio in Blair. In addition to his parents, Mr. Bechtel is survived by his wife, the former Marion Morrow of London, Ont. whom he married in 1957; two daughters, Dawn Marie and Barbara Jane, at home; a brother, Willard (Bud) of Waterloo and a sister, Maxine of Kitchener.

A memorial tribute will be paid at the Doon School of Fine Arts on Friday at 8 p.m. Donations to the local unit of the Canadian Cancer Society will be accepted as expressions of sympathy.

Kitchener-Waterloo Record 13 Sep 1966

____________________

JACK BECHTEL, 1923 1966

I record also the sad death in September, 1966, of John Bechtel, a victim of cancer at the age of forty two.

John Bechtel was born in Kitchener. He served for three years with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the war. On discharge he entered the Ontario College of Art, but his graduation was just the beginning of his growth and development as an artist.

After returning from a period of painting in Mexico, he joined the staff of the Doon School and began to show the unselfish dedication to painting and the teaching of young artists that won for him wide respect and many devoted students and friends.

Let me quote Alan Jarvis: "The first words which come to my mind when I hear the name 'John Bechtel' is integrity, integrity both as an artist and as a person. He was totally without guile or affectation, a dedicated and disciplined worker, without false modesty and with a sincere regard for his own gifts and how to use them".

He worked with York Wilson on the Imperial Oil mural and went on to paint many murals of his own in western Ontario, including, in 1962, the mural in the Kitchener Public Library.

Another friend wrote: "A child of the future visiting the library in Kitchener will be inspired and motivated by what Jack Bechtel is in his mural, not was. His contribution does exist, and we are indebted to an integrity which in our relations singles out Jack Bechtel as one of the very few".

Ontario Society of Artists President's Annual Report 1966

________________________

Let me quote Alan Jarvis: "The first words which come to my mind when I hear the name 'John Bechtel' is integrity, integrity both as an artist and as a person. He was totally without guile or affectation, a dedicated and disciplined worker, without false modesty and with a sincere regard for his own gifts and how to use them".

John married Marion Morrow 1957. Marion was born CA 1925, Of, London, Middlesex Co., Ontario; died 9 May 1998. [Group Sheet]