Obituary of Josef Jan Snobl

After a brief illness, Josef Snobl passed away at the Health Sciences Centre on January 30, 2020 at the age of 80 years. Left to cherish Joe’s memory is his daughter Joey Anderson (Leif); stepdaughters Valerie van Ellenberg and Heidi Bousseau (Gabriel); step-grandson Sam; sister Eva Rejmanova; as well as many nieces and nephews in the Czech Republic. Joe was predeceased by his wife Diane, and his parents Josef and Ludmila. Joe was born on September 10, 1939 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 1963 he obtained his journeyman qualification as a heavy-duty mechanic and continued this work after immigrating to Canada in 1969. Here he would seek out adventure in the form of various jobs that would span across northern Canada, from way up north on the DEW Line to the gold mines of Nunavut. He finally settled down upon returning to Winnipeg, adapting to a new career at CN Rail. Joe would still travel though, and was never one to decline an opportunity to set off on another journey. He saw the Munich Olympics in 1972, travelled to Japan in the 1970s and even went to NYC with his daughter for a special 70th birthday trip. He often took road trips with friends to Czech potlatch campouts all across North America. Most of all he loved to return home to the Czech Republic. Here he would visit his sister and her family. His thirst for life and determination didn’t stop even after losing a leg. On one memorable trip to Prague, he wouldn’t be held back from hiking halfway up a mountain at Jested near Liberec even after promising his daughter he would wait behind. Six minutes later, and after many arduous steps after reaching the uphill destination, there was Joe, slightly out of breath but grinning ear to ear. Besides travel, Joe enjoyed classical music, coffee and was a prolific tinkerer of all manner of electronics. For his relatives and friends back home, he would create slideshow DVDs in a playable format for them through a rigmarole of wires and analog equipment. After graduating to an iPad, Joe took to Skype and email instead. He would also watch his Czech shows and keep up on the news happening at home. This connection would undoubtedly come in handy when deep in conversation with friends at The Canadian Czechoslovak Benevolent Association, where he was a long-time member. The family thanks the staff at the Health Sciences Centre, especially Dr. Garbutt for their kind and compassionate care of Joe. Cremation has taken place and a Celebration of Joe’s Life will take place at a future date. In lieu of flowers, for those who desire, donations in Joe’s memory may be made to the War Amps. https://donate.waramps.ca/eforms.aspx?edonate