Obituary of Peter William Manierka

Our Dad’s voice could shake a room. His powerful renditions of “Old Man River” and “If I Were a Rich Man” were signature songs. His enormous presence was a lifelong marvel to each of his four children, Leigh, Bart, Sandra and David. Our Mom, Sylvia Lerman Manierka (1917-1976), of Port Colborne, Ontario, left us much too soon after years with a devastating illness. Peter’s second marriage resulted from Edith Samuel Manierka entering Peter Manierka & Co., on Yonge St., to see about a sewing machine. Over 27 years with Sylvia and 41 years with Edith, Peter’s marriages were upheld in love, humour and mutual respect. He offered the very same to each of his children, 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Peter Manierka was a Jewish refugee, Royal Air Force fighter pilot, devoted husband, father, entrepreneur, industrial mechanic, inventor, singer, actor, and astute follower of world politics. He was born in Leipzig, Germany, three years after his brother, Sascha. Their mother, Esther Kaplan Manierka, died giving life to Peter. As Nazi Germany became more dangerous for Jews, maternal grandfather Leon Kaplan arranged for the family’s incremental escapes to England. Unable to speak English and travelling alone, Peter arrived in London aged 11, joining his father, Josef and brother Sascha.Both brothers joined the RAF. Peter finished flight training in Canada in 1943. He liked to say he could fly before learning to drive a car.Immigrating to Toronto in 1947 with an unusual Polish surname, German background yet raised in Finchley, Lon-don, Peter told a newspaper reporter years later, “I always looked for things nobody else did. I was the only man in town for years fixing sewing machines for the millinery trade (women’s hats). I also went into repairing shoe machinery.” At age 65, a time when many retire, Peter undertook an entirely new endeavor. His skill in adapting machinery led to several successful inventions and the establishment of ALM Carpet Machinery Inc. The company is still in operation.Peter’s earliest recollections of life in Leipzig include watching from his balcony as glittering patrons in horse-drawn carriages arrived at the theatre. As a child, he believed musical abilities were naturally gained through osmosis. He regretted his limited formal training in music.After nine years in the Canadian Opera Company chorus, Peter left to pursue new outlets for his immense natural talents in singing, theatre, film and television. He received excellent reviews playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof at the Limelight Dinner Theatre, a role he performed 470 times on stages across Canada. In the summer of ‘69, he toured Russia drawing great reviews as guest soloist with the Ukrainian Shevchenko Ensemble.If you want to be in the arts, he used to say, learn to make apple pies. When you’re not painting, dancing, singing or whatever it is you love, you can always sell pies.Sewing machines were much more than pie in the sky for Peter Manierka. At his workbench, surrounded by scattered tools and machine parts, he loved his inventor’s life just as much as his musical life. Peter will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Edith Samuel Manierka, his children, Leigh (Jayne Walker), Bart (Jeannine d’Entremont), Sandra (Jamie Quaile) and David, his grandchildren Alisha Manierka-Brown, Lara Ma-nierka, Marena and Hannah Manierka, Nava, Dylan, Casey and Chloe Manierka-Quaile, Jared and Alec Manierka, great-grandchildren Conleigh, Carter, Lyon, Emmett and Maddox. Also fondly missed by Rita Ender Manierka, Tiziana Manierka and Walter Tartaglia, Claire Yada Manierka and many family and friends. L'chaim, Dad. To life!