Peter Bruno Zingeler passed away peacefully on February 18th, 2021 in Victoria, British Columbia at the age of 88. Peter was born on November 16th, 1932 in Hamburg, Germany to Josef Zingeler and Christl Hildegard (Lehmann) Zingeler. Peter apprenticed as an Oil Merchant in Germany and then decided to immigrate to Canada in 1955. He had a number of initial jobs in Alberta and spent most of his employment years with Union Oil in Calgary, Alberta in the Geophysics Department. Peter was well known in the Calgary Chess community, was instrumental in starting the Black Knight Chess Club and was recently recognized as a key member of the club. Peter moved to Vancouver Island in 1980 to retire, but soon tired of that. He then worked as an Administrator at the University of Victoria in Bamfield. He then decided to go back to school at Camosun College to become a Hotel and Restaurant Administrator. Eventually, Peter bought and ran Peg’s Deli and enjoyed dealing with customers and catering events. In addition to being an avid chess player, art lover, stamp collector and German language instructor, Peter also loved volunteering with senior groups in the Victoria area. He loved taking long walks with his friends and his beloved dog Moose.
Peter is mourned by his sons Allan Zingeler (Diane) and Michael Zingeler (Joan) and his daughter Jennifer Hamilton (Dan), four grandchildren Jeffery, Stephanie, Kristine McIntyre (Stephen), Jeremy, and his great-grandsons, Cassin and Lee. Peter is also fondly remembered by his sister-in-law, Ursula (Ulrich); his niece and nephews, Angelina, Kai and Urs and cousins Bernhard Schmitz (Dorit) and Burkhard Schmitz (Wera). Peter will be sadly missed by his friend and companion Donna.
Peter was predeceased by his father and mother and by his brother Ulrich. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, a private memorial will be held when family members are able to travel. The family would like to thank all the staff at the Victoria General Hospital for their kind support.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Silver Threads in Victoria https://silverthreads.ca/ or KCTS9 https://www.kcts9.org/donate – Peter’s favourite Public Broadcasting Station. Condolences may be offered to the family below.
McCall Gardens
www.mccallgardens.com
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Marilyn Pollard
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Bob Beazley It was just the other day that I put a postage stamp aside for my next coffee date with Peter — a British one, too. He always said they were the best. Guess it will have to wait.
I will miss my get-togethers with Peter. May his family have many happy memories of him, as do I.
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Markus Wenzel Dear Allan, Jennifer, and Michael,
So sorry to hear of your dad’s passing. He was a great friend to my father and to the chess community, and my wife Charlene and I got to know him even better when he became a realtor in Victoria. There was even a small interlude between university semesters where he tried to get me rich by having me sell advertising on garbage bins!
Funny, even though I see he was 88, I never saw him as “old!”
Our condolences for your loss, and perhaps if he and my dad ended up in the same sector of the afterlife, they have some chess boards set up!
I am acquainted with Peter from playing Scrabble at the Les Hampton Silver Threads, though he later moved on to playing Chess. It seems he had a busy and interesting life, and, thankfully, a peaceful passing. I do have a great picture of him I took in the library there a few years ago. At that time, there was no way to get the pictures off my phone. Technology has moved on since then, and I will see if that is possible now, and if I can snag it, I’ll post it. My sincere condolences to his family, and to Donna.