Helmut Kade
Helmut Franz Kade died on June 22, 2017 in Humble, TX. He was 92 years old. Helmut was born on January 19, 1925 to Franz and Martha (nee Scholze) Kade in Beiersdorf, Saxony, Germany. He was married to his loving wife, Carola (nee Lapschies) from Koenigsberg, East Prussia, for 62 years, who preceded him in death in 2012. Helmut was the eldest child of three brothers, Gerhard, Hans and was preceded in death by Herbert and his sister, Inge, in 2015 and 2014, respectively.
Helmut was drafted, as a medic, into the German Navy and served from 1942 to 1945. He spent time on a minesweeper in the Baltic Sea. Near the end of the war, he was taken prisoner by the British near Venice, Italy and transferred south to Caserta. Eighteen months later, he was released and returned home to a newly formed Communist East Germany.
For a short time, he worked in a drug store and studied to become a pharmacist. But the demands and dangers of the growing Communist party in East Germany led him to the decision to flee west. Helmut worked on a farm near Hanover where he met his future bride, Carola, who was also working on a nearby farm. After a short courtship, Helmut and Carola married and would become lifelong travel companions and parents to four children.
Helmut eventually took a mining job and attended coal-mining school near Duisberg, North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1951, Helmut accepted a job with Inter-National Nickel Company at the Garson nickel and copper mine near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Helmut's family immigrated to Canada with two young children and a pregnant wife; two years later a fourth child would later join the family. During his time in Canada, Helmut obtained a civilian pilot's license and even delivered one of sons into the world.
After 14 years in Canada, Helmut and is a job with Meramec Mining Company near Sullivan, MO. He finished raising his family there and worked in the iron ore mines for 22 years, retiring as a general foreman in 1987.
Upon retirement, Helmut and Carola moved to South Padre Island, TX, where they lived until 2002. He loved tracking the storms during hurricane season and traveled extensively with his wife across the United States, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico and Europe. Helmut was fluent in German, English and Spanish. They later returned to Missouri, where they spent the next 10 years in a home they built together in Bourbon, next door to his son, Peter. Not long after Carola's passing, Helmut moved into the Rosemont Assisted Living Home, near his son, Frank, in Humble, Texas. He lived out his remaining years watching his great-grandchildren grow up.
He is survived by his four children, Beatrix and her husband Ron Halmich from Mullica Hill, NJ; Marion and her husband Don Taylor from DuBois, WY; Frank Kade and his wife Martha from Humble, TX; and Peter Kade and his wife Christine from Bourbon, MO. Helmut's legacy continues to thrive through his 8 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Helmut believed in God and made his profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Interment will be in Bourbon Cemetary.