Eberhard Funk
| Town/City | Canberra ACT |
|---|---|
| First name | Eberhard |
| Last name | Funk |
| Country of Origin | Germany |
| Date of Birth | 12.06.1929 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1955 |
| Submitted by | Luise Funk |
Story
My late husband Eberhard Fritz Funk was born in Koenigsberg. Germany, on the 12.06.1929. He was the youngest of three children.
Life was pretty good until the beginning of the war when his father had to join the army. In 1944 Koenigsberg was invaded by the Russians. Everyone was evacuated – only his mother had to stay behind because she was working for the council and helped with the evacuation. Eberhard was split up from his two sisters and landed in the Sudetengau and later in Bavaria where he had some relatives and where he later was reunited with his mother and sisters. Eventually the family was relocated to Oberbachem, near Bonn. Jobs were hard to find so for a short time he worked for a farmer until after a few months he gained an apprenticeship with a plumbing firm in Bad-Godesberg; not that he wanted to become a plumber, but that was the only thing available at the time. In 1950 he finished his apprenticeship and was a qualified plumber and stayed with the same firm until he left Germany in 1955.
While in Oberbachem he met me, Luise LOHMER, and fell in love. After a courtship of about 4 years he proposed to me. Due to the difference in religion and the fact that we lived in a very small town it would have been almost impossible to get married, so we both decided the best way would be to leave Oberbachem.
Eberhard applied and was accepted to come to Australia under the ‘Assisted Passage Scheme’. The idea was for him to see what Australia was like and then Luise would come a year later. Eberhard boarded the ‘Skaubryn’ in May of 1955 and arrived in Australia the following month. On arrival in Melbourene he and most of the others were transported to a migrant camp at Bonegilla and a few days later he boarded a train and was sent to Canberra where a job with the Department of Works, as a plumber, was waiting for him. While in Canberra he lived for about one year at the Hillside Hostel. Six months after his arrival he applied for his fiance to join him and I arrived on the 20th of June in 1956 and three days later we were married.
Our marriage lasted 52 years and was blessed with 2 children and we have 2 beautiful grandchildren. While Eberhard was working as a plumber he went to nightschool and completed his licence in plumbing, gasfitting and drainage to be able to work for himself and he had a successful plumbing business. In 1980 we went into the restaurant business and owned and operated a couple of German style restaurants until Eberhard’s retirement.
We were lucky enough to visit the ‘old country’ many times to catch up with family and friends and to see some of the rest of Europe, but we were always glad to get back home to Australia. Eberhard died in 2008 after a long illness.