Thursday, April 21, 2022
Our brother, cousin and uncle Josef Murtinger left us forever on March 28, 2022. We, his surviving siblings Maria Gosch, Johanna Weithorn, Brigitte Demiray and Ludwig Murtinger, many cousins, and even more nieces and nephews commemorate him with love and deep attachment. Josef Murtinger was called Pepi or Peperl in his home country Austria, these are common abbreviations for Josef here. Born on April 4, 1928 as the first child of Maria and Josef Murtinger, he grew up with his parents and his sisters Mitzi (born 1930) and Jetti (born 1933) in the early years. The family lived in the municipality of Breitenfurt near Vienna, the capital of Austria. During this time he also had a lot of contact with his youngest aunt Rosa, who had grown very fond of the boy. It can be said that Pepi experienced a very loving early childhood. He completed Primary School and Secondary School in Breitenfurt. In 1937 Pepi's brother Robert was born and in 1940 his sister Johanna, called Hansi. That was an extremely difficult time in our home country Austria. Austria was incorporated into national-socialist German empire in 1938 and had to fight in the war, starting 1939, on Germany's side. There was high unemployment and, especially for young people, this was a time without much hope and prospects for the future. Our family moved to Vienna in the early 1940s and was able to move into an apartment in a residential and commercial building and work as a caretaker. Pepi had finished school and was very lucky to get an apprenticeship in a shipyard on the Danube, the big river which flows through Vienna. There he learned the trade of shipbuilder. At the end of 1944, Pepi was not yet seventeen when, like so many young men, he was drafted into military service and had to go to war as a young man! It can be regarded as fortunate that Pepi was taken prisoner of war by the Russians after only a short time. So for him the war was over and when the war was actually over in April 1945, the young men were released from Russian captivity and were able to return home. Now the question arose as to how to proceed. There were hardly any job prospects, the country was devastated, poverty and misery spread. So Pepi decided to join the French Foreign Legion for which the French occupiers of Austria were campaigning. He spent the time in the Foreign Legion, a total of five years, in the French colonies in North Africa and Indochina. He always liked to talk about this time which must have been full of adventures for him. After returning from the Legion in 1950, he met and fell in love with his future wife Albertina, known as Betti. An Austrian comrade from the legion whom Pepi introduced to our family fell in love with our sister Mitzi. Both couples married in 1951. In the meantime, Pepi had got another sister, Brigitte, in 1944 and in 1947 his youngest brother, Ludwig, was born. The job prospects for the young couple Pepi and Betti were not very good. After a few attempts, they decided to go to England to find a job there. In a few months they learned the English language and in 1952 they both took up jobs in a large middle-class household, Betti as housekeeper, responsible for the household and Pepi, as “man for everything”, responsible for the house, garden and car. After four years they returned to Vienna and again tried to find good jobs. But they didn't succeed and so they returned to England again and finally settled there. Pepi started working as a craftsman at the world's largest caravan factory, Bluebird Caravans. This came very close to his profession as a shipbuilder and he became a valued employee. Within a short time they were able purchase their own house in Poole, Dorset. Betti started out as a chambermaid in one of Bournemouth's largest hotels, the Sandbanks Hotel, and within a short time was able to take over the management of all housekeeping staff. Pepi was very ambitious, he wanted more. It has always been his idea to be self-employed and have his own company. So, as soon as he had saved the necessary capital, he set up a company to trade in motor boats and build houses. He soon stopped selling motor boats, but building houses was extremely successful. He built very high quality homes in the Dorset region of southern England. After that, Pepi wanted to fulfill one of his earliest dreams, which was to become a farmer. He sold his building business and bought a farm in Edgerton, Kent. Here he tried to be particularly successful with the cultivation of strawberries. But he was drawn even further and so in 1984 Betti and Pepi emigrated to Ontario, Canada, where he took over a farm. So far, while they stayed in England, there was still relatively good contact with the family on the continent. His youngest brother Ludwig lived with Betti and Pepi in Poole for almost a year in 1961/62 and attended school there, followed by nieces and nephews, each of whom stayed with the two for more or less time. Pepi in particular made a great effort to look after the young people and is still fondly remembered as a sociable, humorous adult. Betti and Pepi also made visits to Germany, to the family of his sister Hansi and in Austria to the family of his brother Robert and his cousin Leopold. This naturally changed after they moved to Canada. The great distance no longer allowed for frequent visits, only with Sister Mitzi, who lives with her family in Toronto, family contact was maintained. However also that faded when Pepi and his wife surprisingly moved to Nova Scotia in 1995 to take over a farm there . Similar elements can be found again and again in the memories of the many people Pepi has met in the course of his life. Such you remember his exciting stories from his life, the many interesting trips and activities he undertook with children and young people. Pepi was incredibly humorous, he spoke three languages fluently - German, English and French. He also he was an excellent orator, the speeches he gave in England at the weddings of his friends' children are famous to this day. And like his father and youngest brother, he was an all-rounder: he left the cooking to his wife Betti, but that was pretty much all. Carpentry, car repairs, agriculture, house building, etc. there was hardly any manual activity that he did not master and carry out with pleasure. In addition to his many activities, Pepi always enjoyed company and maintained many long-term friendships throughout his life. We, his family in distant Europe, are extremely grateful to know that Pepi and Betti have always been part of a stable circle of friends when they were far away. Our only task now is to say goodbye to our brother, cousin and uncle. We loved him and will always keep him in our minds and in our hearts.
