Heinrich D. Gerdes

Heinrich D. "Hank" Gerdes, 94, of Topeka, passed away Friday, January 24, 2020.

He was born January 10, 1926, in Einswarden, Germany, the son of Gerd and Anna (Russmann) Gerdes. He served Germany during WW II.

Hank owned and operated Topeka Metal Specialties Inc., for many years, until selling the business in 2007.

He was a member of the German American Club in Topeka.

Hank married Louise Neimann on August 9, 1947 in Nordenham, Germany. She preceded him in death on April 22, 2005. Survivors include a daughter, Marti (Phil) Siple, Topeka; five grandchildren, Brian (Kristi) Siple, Tamara (Michael) Parish, Joseph (Dyanna) Gerdes, Nicholas (Christina) Gerdes and Danielle (Matthew) Dimond; twelve great-grandchildren, Carter and Colin Siple, Isaac, Caleb and Colten Gerdes, James, Joseph and Kayleigh Gerdes, Gabrielle Haines and Ryder, Ridge, and River McBurney; two step-grandchildren, Mitchell and Chelsie Holmes; his brother, Hermann (Marianne) Gerdes and his sister, Insine Schuster, both of Nordenham, Germany; and a grand-son-in-law, Chase McBurney.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Louise, his parents, his sons Gary and Mark, his granddaughter, Christina McBurney and eleven siblings.

Hank and his wife loved dancing and traveling. He also enjoyed spending time with family, especially his grandchildren, playing tennis and playing card games.

Honoring his request, cremation is planned. A celebration of his life will be held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, February 8, 2020 at the Dove Cremations and Funerals, Southeast Chapel, 2843 SE Minnesota Ave, Topeka.

Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.

To leave a special message for Hank's family, please visit the guestbook below.

To read more about Hank's Journey see below:

Hank's Journey

I came from a big, blended family. My father was a widower with 7 children when he married my mother. They went on to have 7 more children, including me.

After primary school, I apprenticed as a welder, ironworker & secured a good job in the shipyard building ships. I was 17.

The war changed our lives in a profound way. We went from rambunctious, innocent children to teenagers being forced into pre-military service as Hitler Youth. No one had a choice in the matter. You served Hitler or you and your family would suffer as enemies of the state.
I lost 5 siblings in the war. After the war, one of my half-brothers, Heyo, walked in on our family at dinner one night & almost gave my mother a heart attack. We were told he was killed in the war. What a happy evening!

We tried to find a little relief by secretly going to illegal swing dances. Hitler had banned "western" music. I fell in love with a girl who lived in Nordenham. Her father, Ludwig, was a sailor that had served under Kaiser Wilhelm during the first World War, a very strict man.

Making friends with him really helped me win Louise's heart. I felt so carefree when Louise and I danced together. We were like one unit. Everyone stopped to watch us.

When I turned 18, I was pressed into military service. That time is one I try to forget. One bomb was dropped right on my hometown, since it was the second largest seaport on the North Sea. 68 people died in the attack, including children.

The British bombed Helgoland, a small island that had become a Nazi submarine outpost. Using the skills I learned in trade school, I helped to rebuild the island after the war.
Life was hard in post war Germany. I married Louise on August 9th, 1947. I was 21. She was 20. Our first child was born in 1949. She nearly died at birth, coming into the world breach and not breathing. Finally, after several slaps and dunks in cold water from the midwife, she took her first breath. She weighed only 5 lbs.

We had to live in a little room in the attic of my father in law's house and later upstairs at my mother's house because of the scarcity of housing. It was a rare treat to get some horse meat to share at dinner time. I made a special belt with pockets for my wife to wear under her skirt so she could smuggle canned fish home from the cannery where she worked. I worked at the ship yard. When our daughter was 3, Louise miscarried twin boys. It was a deep emotional scar that took years to heal. My father died that same year.

Louise's sister Maria had married Frank, an American in the army and went to the US to live after the war. Frank had filled her head with stories of a beautiful home in the states. She resisted him at first, telling him she was waiting for her Knight to ride in on a white horse & swoop her away. Well, Frank found an old white nag and borrowed it from the milkman. He rode it up to Maria and proposed. Such a charmer! So off they went after the wedding to live in Kansas.

Dreams of having our own home in Germany seemed unattainable to us. Maria was sending letters about how homesick she was and it finally pulled on Louise's heartstrings to be with her sister in her strange new world, so we began to dream of living in our own home in the U.S.

In 1955 we set sail for America. The ship was a freighter, the MS Berlin, that had been converted to a passenger ship. It took three weeks to get to New York, with the ship stopping in Cork, Ireland and Halifax, Nova Scotia before arriving.

It was a turbulent voyage. The North Atlantic is not your friend in the winter. One night, the ship lurched so badly it threw me across our stateroom & into our daughter's bunk. The seas were so rough few people tried to walk outside on deck. Many people were too seasick to eat in the dining room.

We got to eat at the Captain's table one night. He looked so familiar to me & I later learned we were from the same hometown.

From New York, we traveled by train to Manhattan, Kansas where Frank and Maria lived. The big two story house had survived the 1951 flood. We had two rooms in their house to call our own and Maria had found me a job washing dishes at the cafe where she worked as a waitress.

Our daughter played with her cousins and picked up English very quickly. She started kindergarten the next year.

Before long I had saved up enough money to buy a 1947 Hudson, our first car! I found another job driving a truck to Topeka & started looking for a more suitable job and home while in Topeka.

I found a job while delivering to a sheet metal shop in Topeka and soon we had a little house of our own on the east side. Finally, in 1957, after 10 years of marriage, we were alone in our own home. Louise began cleaning private homes to help save up money. We welcomed a son, Gary, to the world in 1959. Magrit, our daughter was 10 years old by then. She was so proud that she could prepare simple meals for me while mama was in the hospital.

We sponsored Louise's sister, Rosemarie and her husband Heiner to come live in Topeka in 1963. We didn't live alone for long.

I built a small garage behind the house and started building iron porch railings for people in my spare time after work.

I never dreamed that this would soon become a full time job. I had to find a bigger space to do my welding, so I rented a corner in an auto parts store south of town. Louise went to night school to learn bookkeeping to help with my business.

In 1964, I bought some land by Lake Shawnee. There, on the edge of paradise, we built our dream home. Louise went back to night school to learn how to sew her own drapes for the house. It was a prefab home, but we soon added on to it to make room for Louise's sister Anna and her husband Gunter and son Peter, who also immigrated. Once Gunter was established financially, they moved out and we moved Louise's parents over from Germany to live with us.

It was 1964 and I now had so much business that I bought the auto parts building to expand. I diversified by becoming a swimming pool dealer, an awning manufacturer, and later installed trailer skirting. The pool thing did not work out, but I got a nice demo pool in my back yard before I gave that up.

In 1966, we watched from our balcony as a devastating tornado tore a half mile path through Topeka. We were lucky to be far enough away that we were safe.

Mark, our second son, was born July 30th that following summer. He was just a month old when our daughter, Magrit got married. Poor Louise, with a new baby, just felt overwhelmed trying to plan a wedding, so Magrit's future mother-in-law helped plan a beautiful wedding. I'm thankful to Betty Siple for helping to prevent a meltdown in my wife.

Magrit and Phil's first house was no bigger than the house I bought when we first moved to Topeka, but we worked hard to fix it up for them.

Business was booming, so in 1968 I asked Magrit to come work in the office at my plant. She stayed until we sold the business in 2007.

Our son, Gary joined the navy and served on a nuclear submarine in the North Atlantic Ocean. Our youngest son, Mark was killed along with his friend, Mike in a head on collision by a drunk driver.

A third friend was thrown from the car and survived. 1983 was a sad year for our family.
In 1989, I built a large home right next to the house we lived in. I sat many a night sketching floor plans to build the perfect castle for my Louise. We lived there happily for many years. We were a close family, getting together for coffee & cake every Saturday afternoon. One Saturday a month, we would visit Louise's sister & family in Manhattan. I remember fondly of the ride home Saturday nights. We would sing songs all the way home. We frequently stopped in Wamego for foot log chili dogs & milkshakes, the highlight of Magrit's weekend.

I'm happy to have had so many good friends in my life. Talented people helped me to build a company that supported 225 employees and their families. I remember fondly the yearly company picnics, golf tournaments and Christmas parties. I loved going through the plant and getting to know my employees.

Louise lost her battle with cancer in the wake of a slow death from Alzheimer's disease in 2005.

I'm so lucky to have had my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren nearby to get me through those years following her death.

I lost Gary to liver failure in the summer of 2014. He was my caregiver for many years after Louise died. My daughter has been my caregiver until I broke my arm in January 2019.

At 94, I, too, have suffered from Alzheimer's for many years and moved to a lovely home after my fall in January. Brookdale is my new home where there are people to care for my special needs.

It's a lovely place where I'm never alone. I still love to sing and play my harmonica.

Sadly, my memory has faded, but my heart is full. Make the most of the life you have. You only get one.

Heinrich D. Gerdes (Hank)