A Funeral Service for longtime Sandy resident and former business owner, Gottfried Urnaut will be held on Friday, September 14, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at Rivers of Living Water Church in Sandy located at 38530 Pioneer Blvd. A private burial will follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Mr. Urnaut died at his home on Wednesday September 5, 2012 at the age of 83.
Gottfried Urnaut was born on November 7, 1928 in Arnfels, Austria to Felix and Elisabeth (Viltuznik) Urnaut. He was raised on farms and received his schooling near Arnfels.
In June of 1951, after the end of WW II, Gottfried left Austria and traveled by train to Canada. He worked for C & R Railroad. On June 6, 1959, he was married in Toronto, Canada to Hannelore Wargowaki, a displaced German woman from Berlin. She was always homesick and spent much time visiting Germany and in turn they were later divorced in 1965. She returned back home to Germany along with their son, Adonis Felix. It was in 1962, that Gottfried became a Canadian Citizen. Besides working for the railroad, he worked in asbestos mine in White Horse and did various other carpentry jobs. During this time, he saved enough and was able to gather his legal documents from Austria in order to qualify for the last visa for the Austrian quota. In August of 1964, Gottfried received permanent resident and came to the United States. He traveled by bus to California and spent time in Los Angeles and San Diego. He did not care for California, so he came to Portland to settle down. He then went to the Local Carpenter’s Union Hall in Portland and was hired by Timber Structures where he was employed for almost 10 years. It was on a weekend that Gottfried traveled to Sandy where he met his future wife, Lorraine Kunz. They were married in Vancouver, Washington on May 20, 1967. Prior to him getting married, he purchased what is now called Rivers of Living Water Church in Sandy. Not only did he remodel the Church, but he lived in the basement on the weekends. Lorraine and Gottfried made their home in Portland. Gottfried pursued his career as a carpenter until his mother in law, Violet Irene Kunz passed away in 1967. Upon Lorraines retirement, they moved to Sandy and took over ownership and ran Irene’s Tavern. In August of 1993, Lorraine preceded him in death.
In 1986, Gottfried cleared property for their friend Joyce in Sandy. As Irene’s health began to decline, Gottfried and Joyce cared for Irene until her passing.
On April 29, 1994, Gottfried married Joyce Olivier. They returned to Sandy and made their home on their berry farm where they worked on their property together.
Gottfried was a hard-working man and his life revolved around work.
He is survived by his wife Joyce, a son and a daughter both of Europe and his sister Josephine Rapoza in Europe.
Sandy Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.