Obituary of Jülf-Tammen Drawes Schwenke

Jülf-Tammen Drawes Schwenke (1935) died March 15th 2025. Eszter’s (2023 dec.) beloved husband, father to Andrea (Herb Wyile, 2016 dec.) and Richard (2002 dec.), grand-father to Hannah and Anikó (William McRae and children), and uncle to Kathrin and Wieka Muthesius (2010 dec.), children of his sister Wibke (1992 dec.). Predeceased by brothers-in-law, Csaba (2017 dec.) (Margrit) and István Gyapay (2021 dec.), Christine, Ilona and Julia).

He lived life with vigour and a passion for nature. He established Integrated Financial Management Services on George St, now Assante, and was a longtime member of the Wostawea Ski Club and advocate for Friends of Odell.

Final arrangements are entrusted to McAdam’s Funeral Home.  To leave a message of condolence please visit www.mcadamsfh.com. Bring stories and/or pictures to share at McAdams Funeral Home, Thursday March 20th 4-6 pm; words at 5 pm.

For those who wish, memorial donations can be made to the Wostawea Cross Country Ski Club and the Trans-Canada Trail.

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Born July 22, 1935, in Düsseldorf, Germany, Jülf-Tammen Drawes Schwenke died March 15, 2025 in Fredericton, NB, after a short bout of flu. He was the son of Bertha-Andrea Paulsen (1912-1956) and Joachim Schwenke (1894-1966), and elder brother of Wibke Muthesius (1937- 1992; children Kathrin and Wieka (1966-2010)). He grew up in Hannover, and lived with his maternal grand-father on Nordstrand for two years during the war.

He emigrated to Montreal, Canada, in 1957 at the age of 21, soon after his mother had died. In late 1960 he met Eszter Gyapay (1937-2023) and they soon married. They were both passionate about sports, music and dancing. During their student days, they scrounged to buy one record per month. They often enjoyed the yearly Hungarian ball in Montreal, swirling through the night with grace and rhythm. When they moved to Fredericton, they took up Scottish Country Dancing, participating in events around the Maritimes.

In 1965, when their first-born, Andrea, was one year old, they moved to an apartment in an old Hudson’s Bay trading post in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, where Eszter’s parents and brothers Csaba (1935-2017; Margrit) and István (1940-2021; Christine) lived. In 1967 their son, Richard (2002), was born. In 1968, the family acquired a farm in Bury in the Eastern Townships where they spent weekends, holidays, and summers while they lived in Québec. Jülf and Eszter returned to Bury often until they sold the farm in 2020. In this paradise, Jülf enjoyed walking and skiing the land, tending the forest, growing buckwheat, potatoes, and shiitake mushrooms, driving a tractor, and hosting many visiting friends and family. Jülf will rest in the beautiful Grace United Cemetery, on Brookbury Road, joining Richard and Eszter amongst dear Eastern Townships friends. (At this link, https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2371704/grace-united-cemetery#view-photo=109398482 the second of the three pictures is more or less the beautiful view from the Schwenke gravesite.)

In 1977 the family relocated to Fredericton, staying at The Elms Tourist Home until they could move into their house on the one-way block of Saunders Street, formerly known as Goose Lane, where they resided until 2023. They were regular swimmers at Killarney Lake; Jülf was responsible for the creation of the beach there as part of a Kiwanis project back before it
became the popular summer spot it has become. And, of course, he and Eszter were active members of the Wostawea Cross-Country Ski Club, and, having been participants in the Canadian Ski Marathon since its inception in the late 1960s, they were enthusiastic skiers in the Maritime Ski Marathon, North 100 Marathon in Bathurst, and various Loppets in the region.

From the late 1950s to the mid-70s he worked for several companies, including Webb & Knapp Ltd., who were responsible for various building sites in Montreal, including Place Ville Marie, and he was manager at Hoechst Canada. In that period, he also received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sir George Williams University and completed additional courses at McGill. After working at a number of accounting jobs in three provinces, he eventually went into business for himself. In 1981 he founded Integrated Financial Management Systems (IFMS Consulting) with an office at 512 George Street, which has continued with Bernie Holland at the helm since Jülf’s retirement in 2006. He partnered with a variety of financial investment firms in the 80s and 90s, from Fortune Financial to Equion, out of which CI Assante Wealth Management grew. He was one of Assante’s original shareholders and advisors. In what was probably one of his most memorable speeches, Jülf (who also went by Jay for work purposes) provided three key points about RRSPs and investing wisely, and then scattered a great many two-dollar bills from the top of a cherry-picker downtown, saying to the crowd, “Let us help you not to throw your money away!”

Grandchildren Hannah and Anikó (Andrea & Herb Wyile (2016), Canadian nieces Ilona and Julia Gyapay, and great-grandchildren Clara and John (Anikó and William McRae) will recount or hear about Jülf’s many cross-country skiing, canoeing, hiking, and swimming exploits, including completing the Canadian Ski Marathon’s 100-mile (160 km) Coureur-de-Bois Gold level twice, hiking several sections of the Appalachian trail, and back-country skiing with “the guys” in the Gaspé. He walked in Odell Park with great regularity, hill bounding or speeding ahead of his daughter Andrea on his 5 km loop until at least age 86. Friends and family will recall how Jülf could hold forth about his many passions from trees and nature to organic foods and farming, baking bread, good wine, Nürnberger Lebkuchen (which he gave as a gift to many), politics, and, of course, cars and driving!

Jülf tirelessly wrote letters to the city, among others, on many issues, including the protection of the ecosystem of the woods as part of Friends of Odell. He was known for his generosity, lived his life with vigour, and certainly lived up to his principles and family motto: Be true to yourself.

His remaining family is immensely grateful for the excellent and kind care of all the staff at Windsor Court Retirement Home where he lived the last two years of his life.

Anyone wishing to remember him with a donation can make their own choice, but for those looking for suggestions the Fredericton Wostawea Ski Club or the Trans-Canada Trail are two organizations that Jülf cherished. Or you can plant a tree!

Eventually there will surely be a memorial poem appearing  on www.widowwyile.com (see contact page for email). Anyone wishing to read it can write to receive a copy.