The Past Rebuilt The Huber Family`s Journey To

An Eyelight Inc. Publication
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the entire Huber family in its largest sense—a family that includes
a wealth of faithful suppliers, many dedicated customers, and hundreds of loyal employees.
Without this extended family, Piller’s could not have grown into the successful company it is today.
Table of Contents
Foreword
3
Beginnings – An Old World Family
7
A Homestead That Inspired A Family Business
13
A New Way Forward In A New Homeland
39
Tradition Continued
71
The Next Generation Looks Forward
83
Continued Legacies – Toward 100 Years
99
Huber Family Genealogy
103
Kopp Family Genealogy
107
Works Cited
115
Copyright 2007
Piller Sausages and Delicatessens Limited
1
Foreword
children a wonderful opportunity to be able to grow as a family and as a business.
Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Edward stressed to us that by working together we could
accomplish anything. As we carry on their work, this generation of Hubers—and the
next—will continue to build our business and our family on the foundation of teamwork.
It has been a tremendous honour to have been given the responsibility by my family
It has been the greatest gift our parents have given us.
to oversee the creation of this book. It is a greater honour still to be able to present it to
them upon its completion.
The history of Piller Sausages & Delicatessens Limited is essentially the history of
Wilhelm Huber, Jr.
the Huber family. My brothers, my cousins and I have worked for Piller’s for decades, but
President and Chief Executive Officer
the company has been a part of our lives for much longer. From our youngest days, we
watched as Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Edward built and grew the company beginning in
1957. We were too young to realize it then, but what we were watching was not only their
hard work and dedication to establishing a business but their love for, and remarkable
dedication to, the Huber family itself.
Wilhelm Huber, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer
As I reflect on the oral history recorded in these pages, I am very proud of what my
family and the Piller’s company have accomplished in just fifty years. All our family
members recognize and appreciate what our parents and grandparents went through as
they were expelled from their home in Yugoslavia, overcame the struggles of living as
refugees following the Second World War, and finally settled in Canada to build new lives
for themselves—and for us.
By creating Piller’s, our parents have given me, my brothers, my cousins and our
2
3
Beginnings – An Old World Family
Living history
Mounted on the wall in the boardroom of Piller Sausages &
Delicatessens Limited is a colourful, three-dimensional model that
represents the original 1957 Piller’s plant on Wismer Street in Waterloo’s
northeast corner. At the time, the building was little more than a cottage,
but it was part of the very first Huber family business in Ontario, a business
that is now an anchor in the community and a company that is recognized
across Canada and around the world.
It is significant that it is a model of the early Piller’s building rather than just a picture on a
simple flat surface: as a tangible, physical object, it seems more “real” and alive than a photograph
or an oil-painting. The model captures the sense of the real and living history that exists today at
the only headquarters and primary facility that Piller’s has ever known.
A few floors below the boardroom where thousands of kilograms of internationally
acclaimed sausages and other food products are made by hundreds of employees, the
original space of the 1957 building still exists. It is a small section of the plant that is now
a passageway and product holding-area which was once the room where Wilhelm Huber
The route of the Huber family and other villagers from Sidski Banovci. They travelled through heavy fighting in the Bezirk Vukovar region before crossing the Drava (Drau) River
into Hungary. The family eventually ended up in Franking, Austria living as refugees in a farmer’s summer kitchen for two years.
5
started his family business as one of two butchers fifty years ago. In many ways, Huber’s
rebuilt their family business in order to reclaim their previous status
story—and that of his family, both its ancestors and its next generations—is a story about
in a new culture. Led by patriarch Konrad Huber, they have never
homeland that starts with a single, old house in a tiny village half-way across the world. At
forgotten their Yugoslavian roots but rather have relied on them and
the same time, it is a story that is repeated over and over again with thousands of
looked to them for inspiration when planting new roots and forging
individuals and families from similar cultures and European backgrounds.
a new way forward in a new homeland.
The German word “heimat” has no suitable translation in English. The word is most
“Talking right off my heart.”
often translated to convey a sense of “home” or “homeland,” but neither translations capture
the full essence of the German term. It refers to a uniquely Germanic sense of cultural
Now 74 years old, Wilhelm Huber, a fourth-generation
identity that is tied to a history of the people, their landscapes and communities, their
master butcher, marvels at what has been accomplished with the
languages, and their experiences in the world, past, present, and future. In many ways,
Piller’s company—a company he started a half-century ago. He looks
heimat expresses a sense of loss and a hope for regaining that past which has disappeared.
back at each point of the journey noting the obstacles that he and his
Generations of immigrants struggled in their new homes, whether in North America or
family have conquered with remarkable success. Poring over old
elsewhere, in order to support their families in their country of origin by saving money
photographs, Wilhelm identifies people he knew in his Yugoslavian
through the fruits of their often back-breaking labour. Still others have tried to “rebuild”
village, Sidski Banovci, who vanished during or after the war in the
their lives and reclaim a new homeland outside of their native lands by establishing
horrifying mass expulsions that took place. It is this sense of loss
themselves and their families in other regions of the world.
experienced by his generation, still so immediate in his mind, which
A schematic of Sidski Banovci showing properties,
buildings, orchards and vineyards. The Huber
gasthaus was on the south side of the road running
east-west. Another Huber property was on the road
running north out of town.
has been drawn from the experience of war that has characterized the
The Huber family, while dedicated deeply to their cultural roots and heritage as
ethnic Germans from the former Yugoslavia, chose to establish a new homeland on a
different continent. They were officially stripped of their nationality and declared
twentieth century. Yet looking at the old photographs also
invigorates Wilhelm’s sense of pride and enthusiasm for what he and
his family have now built.
ineligible for United Nations support in a war-torn Europe but reunified their family and
6
7
Piller’s Head Office, Wismer Street, Waterloo. Nearly
600 employees, expert technicians, and top-quality
products make Piller’s one of North America’s preeminent meat-processing companies.
“I never would have imagined that all of this could have been
Five decades later, the contrast of the old machine with the company’s current
achieved,” he exclaims. “Never in my lifetime. I had a goal for what the Huber
production is stark. Rumbling noisily below during two daily shifts are room-sized
family was all about and what it could be. The family and its name had been
machines and intricate computer-monitored equipment that efficiently turn out
lost, and we were forced to leave everything behind because of the war. It was
thousands of pounds of sausage and meat products hourly, as well as processing 25 tons of
my goal to make the family and that name something again, as it was before
ham a day. The shifts produce large amounts of top-quality products so quickly that they
the war. Like thousands of others, we were nobody after the Second World
are taken for granted when compared to the old red, hand-cranked sausage machine that
War. We were refugees,” says Wilhelm. Affectionately called “Willy Senior,”
is now an historical curiosity. Whereas Piller’s started with only a small handful
he states that he is talking “right off my heart” when he discusses the family’s
of staff, today there are nearly 600 employees—sausage-makers, packagers, custodial staff,
past. But in many ways, he is also speaking for the thousands of other
office staff, highly trained technicians from Germany, and plant managers—
displaced and lost families whose stories of the turbulent mid-twentieth
each contributing skills to one of Canada’s and North America’s pre-eminent meat
century have not been told, and never will be.
processing companies.
Upstairs at the Wismer plant is the “Piller’s Deli School,” a fully
At the centre of it all, the daily activity that runs like clockwork at each of the four
operational simulated delicatessen created years ago by Wilhelm’s younger
plants and facilities, is the Huber family’s story which spans nearly 160 years, a global war,
brother Edward Huber for instructional purposes. It is still used today for
two continents, and a world of change and evolution.
An old hand-operated sausage stuffer and scale were
tools of the trade at Piller’s in 1957. Today they are
part of the history that has been retained—and
honoured—at Piller’s.
the company’s internal training and education for retail and foodservice
clients. Behind the delicatessen counter is a decades old sausage-making
machine over which Wilhelm, Edward, and the eldest brother Heinrich
laboured untold hours. The machine could handle roughly 15 to 20
pounds of meat at a time, and in such batches the Hubers made somewhere
in the order of 50 or 60 pounds of sausage each week in the early days of the
business.
8
9
A Homestead That Inspired A Family
Business
Each thread in the story of the Huber family and Piller’s
is part of a fabric that holds woven within it very different
worlds—that of a simple agrarian-based life in an ancient and
charming village in Yugoslavia and that of a war-ravaged
Europe that witnessed millions of deaths and would take
decades to rebuild. But it is also a story of a family that built
success for itself in small-town Ontario, and in a Canada that
had yet to celebrate its 100th birthday. That success began as
a single thread at a family homestead thousands of kilometres
The original Huber Family home and “gasthaus” in
Sidski Banovci, c. 1930. Konrad Sr. stands in the
doorway of the butcher shop. Margaretha and Rosina
are at the far left.
away from Waterloo Region where the Hubers would eventually land.
Though it has a past considerably longer, this portion of the story opens with the
original Huber residence and “gasthaus” (guesthouse) that was located in Sidski Banovci in
the region of Syrmia in what was once part of the Croatian kingdom. It is fertile land, rich
and arable, that has been described as a provider of bread to Europe—and just as much, it
is territory that has been subjected to massive upheaval and military conflict throughout
the centuries.
11
Syrmia lies in the Pannonian plain, a rich lowlands cut in half by the famous and
The family, like most of those in that era, was large and dedicated to each other.
venerable Danube River. It is a plain that has been shared historically as a battlefield for the
Konrad and Rosina were assisted in operating the gasthaus by their eldest son Heinrich and
Ottoman Empire as it clashed with the Habsburg Monarchy, and by the peoples of Austria,
the two Huber girls, Katharina and Eva. Younger siblings Wilhelm and Edward, as they grew
Croatia, Serbia, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and the Ukraine during
up, would help wherever and whenever they could. The layout of the residence was roughly
its evolving history.
U-shaped with the comfortable living quarters and work area in the back. In doing its daily
In contrast to the changing geography and geopolitics of the Pannonian plain on a
larger scale, the Huber gasthaus was a tidily settled and stable hub of the small village of
12
a small barn for the horses and a few cattle.
Sidski Banovci. It was a humble village that had no running water and no electricity. Today,
The Hubers’ existence and identity, as it was for so many Europeans of previous
with our rapidly growing grid of roads and highways, it is difficult to imagine that in and
centuries, was inextricably tied to the land and livestock. Several decades later, that deeply
around tiny Sidski Banovci was a simple network of clay rather than asphalt roads. It was a
entrenched pattern of life would hold true when the family eventually came to their new
village like hundreds of others in Europe.
country, Canada. In many respects, this very pattern holds true today with the Huber
A focal point for the quaint village.
Rosina and Konrad Huber on their wedding day,
January 30, 1923. They oversaw a charming and
cosy guesthouse.
business, a horse and wagon drove in and out from beside the courtyard where there was also
family’s next generations leading a company that relies as much as anything on nature’s
bounty and the good stewardship of it.
Built in 1880 by Jakob Huber (born 1849), the charming and cosy gasthaus was a
At the gasthaus, the patriarch Konrad Huber, like Jakob, was a master butcher. He
comfortable family residence with a welcoming courtyard, and a vineyard, as well as a small
had, in the early decades of the twentieth century, already established the Huber name in the
restaurant and beer parlour with enough room for a dance hall that could accommodate
meat processing business, purchasing livestock and shipping it to Vienna as a commercial
very nearly the entire village. There was even a bowling alley. But perhaps just as important,
activity. He was an enterprising young man—a trait that would be carried on in his sons.
it was a community centre in many ways. The gasthaus was a focal point for the quaint
Aside from the gasthaus property, Konrad had a second property with a garden, a four-
village that eventually came to be run with their loving devotion and careful attention to
hectare vineyard, and additional livestock. His enterprise was part of a communal effort as
detail by Konrad and Rosina Huber who were married 1923.
the tending of sheep, cattle, and pigs in the village was a shared responsibility. Frequently,
Konrad’s parents. Margaretha and Konrad Sr., Willy Sr.’s
grandparents.
13
the farmers in the village would congregate on communal land to send the sows out to
and commerce of the butcher shop took specialized knowledge and considerable
pasture with one farmer volunteering to care for Sidski Banovci’s drove of hogs. It was
time. It required an entire family working together to build the success of the
remarkable, Wilhelm tells it, how the pigs would virtually find their own way home when
gasthaus and therefore the Hubers’ comfort.
their owners returned at day’s end to collect them. It was a simple, safe, and comfortable
existence amidst family and neighbours; it was a community.
operations but worked virtually each one with his own hands. His days, from
wagon on his way to the fields, or holding a large scythe, Wilhelm reflects on those
pre-dawn morning and continuing until late into the evening, were very often
rudimentary and traditional farming methods that seem so antiquated today. “It’s
15 hours long, if not more. A trained and certified butcher—a “fleischermeister”—
amazing,” he will assert. “It was such hard work, and it was all done by hand.”
Konrad took over the gasthaus and the butcher shop from his father. He took
including Margaretha Schmoll (Wilhelm’s grandmother), were an integral part of
Sidski Banovci’s strong family orientation and community identity. However, the very
building itself, its history and its traditions initiated by Jakob were responsible for drawing
seriously the family business and its traditions that had been handed down. There
the day-to-day events of Sidski Banovci presented themselves. There was work to be
done, and this busy active lifestyle was driven by a strong work ethic.
Rosina Huber (nee Hoffmann), who was born February 23, 1901 was,
unifying characteristic would prove to be an essential, life-saving quality that would
like her husband, a particularly hard-working woman responsible for raising five
eventually help carry the family through the chaos of war.
energetic children while Konrad worked on the farm, in the butcher shop, or
the village, meant an extremely busy existence for all the Hubers. Then or now, living in an
agrarian-based system is hard work with the chores of the house to be seen to, as well as those
of the farm and livestock. The upkeep of the gasthaus itself was constant, and the operations
Jakob Huber, left, and his brother Konrad travelling
out to the fields in Sidski Banovci. “It was such hard
work, and it was all done by hand.”
was, however, little time for reflecting on the richness of family legacies when
the Hubers together into a tightly knit group with a deep sense of loyalty and unity. That
But for now, the activities of the gasthaus, in carrying out its community role within
14
working father and a single-minded entrepreneur who not only oversaw all of these
When he looks at old photographs of his father and uncle Jakob sitting in a
The Huber home, the several amenities in the gasthaus, and its eight inhabitants
Heinrich Schmoll married Susanna Winterstein,
pictured here. Their daughter, Margaretha Schmoll,
was Wilhelm Huber’s grandmother and was born in
Sidski Banovci, April 2, 1880.
Konrad Huber, born January 25, 1902 in Sidski Banovci, was a tough, hard-
served in the military. It was a daunting task to see to so many details, the most
important of which for Rosina was bringing up the Huber children with the
integrity and family-focus that they would need to be fine young adults and
citizens.
15
Photographs of Rosina, as was common to much of the portrait photography of
In the mid-1930s, though, Sidski Banovci remained a quiet, charming
the era, often reveal a seemingly stern and dour outward demeanour. However, Wilhelm’s
village. The Huber sisters, Katharina (born 1924) and Eva (born 1930), followed
recollections as recorded in this oral history reveal how the old photos fail to capture Rosina’s
in the footsteps of Rosina’s youth and assumed their roles in helping run and
essential warmth and good nature as a mother. She was a tremendous and patient teacher to the
manage the gasthaus and the family household. While just a young teenager, Eva’s
children, and one, Wilhelm recalls, who had a great sense of humour. During the warm
role increased in the home as Katharina took on more and more of the work in
Yugoslavian summers, Wilhelm spent a lot of time outside beneath the hot sun both while doing
the gasthaus and seeing to its guests. Katharina, for her part, worked hard around
his chores around the gasthaus and while playing with his brothers and friends. His exposure to
the family residence, helping on the farm, serving guests, and eventually taking
the sun’s rays, as it is with many children, was so frequent that as they once walked back from
care of the gasthaus financial statements. Perhaps as much because of her birth as
some village event or other with a group of families, Rosina would joke with the mothers that
first daughter than anything else, Katharina was the tough one, by all accounts.
she could not recognize him as her son with his deeply tanned skin.
She made sure things around the gasthaus—including younger siblings—were
If Konrad assumed the role as strict disciplinarian, Rosina was always fair
and immediately attentive to her children’s needs. Regardless, the two parents were
Like the village itself, the affairs of the gasthaus were usually simple
responsibility to each other. In her own childhood, Rosina had already had the family
and reasonably quiet. Periodically, however, there were special occasions that
responsibilities of taking care of the home-front while her male relatives and the other men
required preparing larger meals for bigger events; but for the most part, the
from her village left for the slaughter of the trenches and no-man’s-land that made the First
gasthaus served beverages, snacks, and light fare to the villagers and any visitors or
World War such a horror. Little did Rosina know that only twenty years later a second,
travellers who happened to be passing through Sidski Banovci.
its home when Adolf Hitler marched his troops brutally throughout Europe beginning in
1938.
16
member to contribute to the family’s prosperity and well-being.
responsible for imbuing in the Huber children their strong sense of family and
more brutal war loomed on the horizon that would rip her own family and children from
A herder and his dog tend to Sidski Banovci’s drove
of hogs; “the pigs would virtually find their own
way home”.
kept in order. It was part of an efficient household unit that called on each
In its capacity as a neighbourhood community centre, the little inn
provided the village with a source of entertainment that also had an important
social function as a place where folks could chat and share news and stories in the
17
time-honoured way that relied on face-to-face human interaction much before the
It is an interesting comparison that many of the circumstances and routines of daily life
modern technologies of the later twentieth century. Embracing their place as
in Sidski Banovci were comparable to the lifestyles of some of the pioneering Mennonite
leaders in the village, the Hubers accepted that the gasthaus had this important
farmers and settlers to southwestern Ontario. These settlers became the backbone of the
function that created strong bonds and helped bring the community together.
villages and hamlets that thrived on the outskirts of Waterloo; in fact, many of the
In the fall and winter months, for instance, musical groups were brought in and
dances were held in the banquet hall. The musicians set up in the corner of the room
Life in Sidski Banovci was a community affair. The
Huber family and relatives would gather to harvest
grapes as in this photo from 1930. Konrad is in the
back row, second from the left, holding grapes.
the family started Piller’s.
and benches were placed around the hall so the older people could get together and
Wilhelm Huber, born in Sidski Banovci in 1932, remembers how his father and their
watch the younger folks dance. Virtually the entire population of Sidski Banovci
neighbours tended to their livestock and worked the fields plowing with horses just as many
would congregate to share in the excitement and energy. This old European tradition
of their old-order Mennonite counterparts do even today. As he describes family life in his
is a part of our heritage today, where the same kind of community atmosphere—
home village, and its close ties to the land, he notes that “we were living almost like
dancing, eating, enjoying each other’s company—has been built in German clubs
Mennonite folks in Waterloo live today.” He came to know these hard-working southwestern
across Canada and notably in Waterloo Region.
Ontario settlers in many of the same terms by which he had actually lived in Sidski Banovci.
Though it has now deteriorated and has been re-constructed and altered
over the decades, the Huber gasthaus, in fact, still symbolizes the family’s
It speaks, perhaps, to the universal nature of settlers, immigrants, and all hard-working
families living in rural areas producing our food.
dedication to hospitality and serving the needs of friends and customers. The
Patterns and routines were a significant part of the Sidski Banovci lifestyle. For Wilhelm,
gasthaus has also been an inspiration for the Hubers; for Wilhelm Huber in
during the period of his childhood, Saturdays were reserved for joining his father Konrad as
particular, it achieved all of this importance in a relatively short span of
he hitched wagon to horse and ventured into the larger town-centres surrounding Sidski Banovci,
approximately 11 years—his age when the family was forced to evacuate Sidski
many of which were 15 or 20 kilometres away. Each trip had a particular task or objective and was
Banovci during the war.
usually dedicated to ordering or buying supplies for the gasthaus—a job always done on Saturday
Living like their Mennonite brethren in Waterloo Region
18
descendants of these Mennonite families would become the Huber’s loyal customers when
and
always
with
the
young
Wilhelm
in
tow.
Church
was
19
also a significant routine in the small community—and Sunday school as well: “If you
based environment was respected by all aspects of society both inside and outside
missed Sunday school, well, you were in a lot of trouble,” Wilhelm has said. “After church
Sidski Banovci. It was the practice then that the military would only take one
was dinner, and we had to go back to Sunday school at two o’clock for an
eligible male from a family for service, especially in farming families. When
hour or an hour and a half. It gave the parents a little break.” Now, there are sports
Konrad was serving, Heinrich would be at home to see to the operations of the
facilities, theatre complexes, amusement parks, television, and video games to occupy
farm. Alternatively, when Konrad returned, it would be Heinrich’s responsibility to
kids; then, the Sunday school played an important role.
serve when he was old enough. This arrangement would soon have serious
Next door to the church was the school, which served as the city hall, and a
Wilhelm in grade two; second row, fourth from the
right.
bank was nearby. When not involved in school, church, or the essential family
In this setting and by the age of eight, Wilhelm (and to a lesser degree the
duties of ensuring there was bread on the table, shelter overhead, and satisfied
younger Edward), seeing a role model in older brother Heinrich, was quickly
customers in the gasthaus, Wilhelm was happily engaged in the usual but simple
gaining an appreciation for a lifestyle dictated by the cycle of the seasons, the land,
activities that childhood insists on: running around the neighbourhood playing
and the livestock. Though he did not know it directly, the youngster
hide-and-seek, marbles, and other games, untroubled and carefree, with the other
was being prepared and groomed to carry on a family tradition of the proud
children in the village.
and important trade of butcher that had started several generations earlier
At the same time, it was a village that maintained its strong work ethic, and
there was not a lot of free time for visiting: the families kept the children busy for the
most part. Whenever Konrad was away, either on business or with the military,
Wilhelm’s big brother Heinrich was responsible for running the business of the farm.
But Wilhelm had his own role to play with a host of stable duties and making sure that
the horses were cleaned, had fresh hay, and were watered and fed adequately.
As much as possible, the importance of these activities in a rural, agrarian-
20
implications for the family when war eventually broke out.
The Huber family in their courtyard at the gasthaus,
Sidski Banovci, 1943. From left; Edward, Rosina,
Katharina, Margaretha, Wilhelm, Konrad (seated),
Heinrich (standing), Eva.
with his great-great-grandfather and namesake, Wilhelm Huber. According to
genealogical research carried out by Wilhelm’s granddaughter Nicole Huber Price
in “Where We Are From: The Chronicles of the Huber Family” (2005), the first
Wilhelm Huber had been the only child born to Johann Huber (born 1781) and
Ann Marie Schlefeinbein in Neu-Siwatz, Yugoslavia, in 1824. This Wilhelm
became the first Huber to settle in Sidski Banovci.
Inevitable change
21
Today, like the changes to Sidski Banovci that occurred before the
childhood of Konrad Huber in the 19th century, the village since the
Huber family left in the mid-twentieth century has experienced its own
dramatic changes. Katharina’s daughter Rosina revisited the gasthaus in
1975. As if by luck, she found virtually the only inhabitant of the village
who spoke German and who acted as a genial tour-guide taking her around
Expulsion from Sidski Banovci –
“The orders were to pack and leave. Tomorrow!”
As much as the gasthaus, the tree itself is a symbol: it is a part of the landscape that
had survived the war when the Hubers and the other villagers had just barely escaped from
Sidski Banovci with their lives in late-1944. This frightening event was similar to that
experienced by thousands of other ethnic Germans in the latter stages of World War II.
Sidski Banovci, still a small, quaint village, and leading her to the old Huber
gasthaus. The same streets are there and the same buildings, and perhaps
even the same community spirit of the earlier era.
The serene village was not always so serene. It was, in fact, part of a larger and tragic
history: by 1941, Yugoslavia had fallen and the country was parceled up and distributed
among Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria. This drove the Yugoslavian Communist
Photographs, however, reveal the decline—time’s inevitable
handiwork—of the old building and its grounds. It does not matter that
The spirit of the gasthaus remains. Rosina Juhn-Budd
(in blue) with current residents of the house.
Photograph taken by a Sandra Juhn, 1975.
you have not experienced the original gasthaus, that you might be a very
distant relative, or even that you are not part of the family: the marking
of time’s passage between the earlier photograph and the recent one is
moving. Yet, the small sapling, visible in old, dog-eared pictures appears
in the more recent photos as a large and mature tree—it is a testament to
the power of nature and its own relentless work against time that it
rejuvenates itself and flourishes.
Party and Josip Tito (then operating underground) up to the surface as a primary
resistance force. Soon Yugoslav partisans began raids and attacks on ethnic Germans (like
the Huber family) and their villages. Tito and his ruthless partisans
had decreed a deep hatred toward anything German and were determined to rid Yugoslavia
of people with German heritage. They declared that ethnic Germans in Yugoslavia were no
longer citizens and confiscated their property. By 1945, nearly 500,000 Germans had been
expelled—the
term
that
would
be
used
in
Article
XIII
of the Potsdam Agreement was “transfer”—from Yugoslavian territory. As a result of
the war, according to historian Tony Judt, Yugoslavia would lose “25 percent of its
vineyards, 50 percent of all livestock, 60 percent of the country’s roads, 75 percent of all its
ploughs and railway bridges, one in five of its pre-war dwellings and a third of its limited
22
23
industrial wealth—along with 10 percent of its pre-war population”.
The residents of Sidski Banovci had some advanced warning from the German
Army that they would have to leave their homes and evacuate the village. When he talks
about those first early signs and rumours that they might have to leave—and then later the
more urgent instructions to abandon the village immediately—Wilhelm’s voice slows and
becomes quietly reflective as he recalls the only real home he had ever known as a child.
Yugoslav partisans enjoy anything that belonged to him. Rosina, halfoptimistic about eventually coming back to their home, buried their best
dishes hoping that they could be recovered and used to celebrate the
family’s return. She was surprised, then, by Konrad’s actions. According to
Huber Price’s research, Konrad, by virtue of having been a soldier in the
Yugoslavian and German armies, was less optimistic. With Wilhelm
watching, he emptied the entire contents of any barrel containing
24
Wilhelm’s poignant account of the expulsion—an attempt to outrun pursuing
alcohol—“wine, schnapps and beer”—onto the floor of the wine cellar,
armed forces—is harrowing: “I will never forget the day when the time came and we had
exclaiming, “I will not be responsible for the drunken actions of [any
to leave. It was something. The German Army came into the village and said ‘if you’re
soldiers] while they rape and murder our friends who are staying behind.
German-speaking you’d better leave. If you stay you would be put in a concentration camp
They will not receive any pleasure from anything of mine, as long as I can
where you would die.’ The orders were to pack and leave. Tomorrow!”
help it.”
So indelibly etched on his young mind were those words that Wilhelm even
Working quickly against the gravity of the situation, Konrad
remembers that the day of the forced departure was a Saturday. “People had one day to pack
slaughtered two pigs and made enough pork sausage to feed the family for
up and move what they wanted to take. We had two wagons tied together and pulled by two
a journey the length of which they could not even guess. The sausage was
horses. We walked along side the wagons which were packed with as many of our belongings
covered in lard to preserve it—a centuries’ old food-preparation technique
as we could carry. It was quite a sad day when we had to leave.” The threat of capture by
that the French call “confit.” But for these ethnic German refugees it was
Tito’s partisans and imprisonment in concentration camps had suddenly become all too
life itself: as they abandoned their home, they subsisted on the odd nibble
real, and Konrad and Rosina spent several tense hours preparing.
of this meat for energy and as a way to break the endless routine of plain but
Like the Russian scorched-earth policy to destroy virtually the entire city of Moscow
filling meals of bread slathered with the preserving lard and sprinkled with
during Napoleon’s invasion in 1812, Konrad was determined not to let Russian soldiers or
salt, pepper, and spices such as paprika. This simple food sustained the
A long and anxious procession of wagons evacuate
Sidski Banovci in 1944. Families left virtually
everything they had behind.
25
family for a long and tense period of time.
Today, many years later in Canada, Wilhelm’s son and President and Chief Executive
Officer of Piller’s, Willy Jr., would recall eating a similar snack during his childhood as
Located in the heart of Sidski Banovci, the church (in
this photo from the 1930s) was an important part of
village life. In 1944, with the Second World War
raging around them, the church’s bells would sound the
alarm that the residents must evacuate to safety.
terrain and less noticeably along isolated dirt back-roads. Making it north to Osijek, an
industrial port in Croatia, they rested in the darkness and the next morning begin the
journey to cross the River Drava into Hungary.
prepared by his grandmother. One cannot help but think of the importance of such food to
Wilhelm, only a young boy, recalls seeing combat planes engulfed in fire and
the Huber family, and Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Edward in particular. Through Konrad’s
plummeting from the skies around him. Anti-aircraft artillery popped directly over
ability to so quickly prepare the foodstuffs, it became their sustenance during this dark
the heads of the caravan, and they suffered through heavy bombardment. It was a scene of
period. In a way, it symbolized the family’s escape from their village.
panic and chaos: “Many horses bolted and people were leaping from the wagons. The
On October 17, with the Sidski Banovci church-bells pealing, a caravan of 40 to 50
families formed and proceeded nervously out of the village and into the uncertain terrain
planes came out of nowhere. I will never forget that.”
October 21 – A Refugee’s Twelfth Birthday
ahead. They headed northwest toward Hungary, making it to Vinkovci before hiding out in
the night. That first day, with warplanes bombing all around them—“they were Russian or
At one point, the caravan and Huber family travelled non-stop for 72 hours—day and
English planes, we couldn’t tell which,” says Wilhelm—Konrad repeatedly grabbed the horses’
night—until they were nearly crippled in pain, as noted by Huber Price. They ate quickly from
reins tightly to control them as they reared frantically. He would then order the family off the
their supply of Konrad’s hastily made sausage, not even stopping to do so: its richness and caloric
wagon and into the ditches at the roadside to safety. Bombs and shrapnel rained down only a
quality gave them energy and strength. They slept on the wagons and usually in the open air. As
few hundred metres away from the road where they had been travelling.
the frightening and dangerous exodus continued, they might be lucky enough to find a
sympathetic farmer who had space; they then might also have the exceedingly good fortune to be
The next day, the caravan set out for Tordinci, Croatia, and toward the Danube
River where they would camp for the night. In disbelief and shock, families watched as
able to sleep in relative comfort and safety out of the elements and with a solid roof over their
heads protected, for the time being, from the attacking aircraft.
their Sidski Banovci neighbours were killed virtually in front of them. In her research,
26
Huber Price recounts one horrendous incident in which a mother and infant died as she
This chaotic scene as the Hubers left their home was one that was being repeated over
tried to shelter her baby under a tree. From then on, the caravan travelled in less open
and over throughout worn-torn Europe. As the exhausted and physically and emotionally
27
shaken caravan crossed the bridge over the Drava, Wilhelm also recalls a simple but bittersweet
milestone that returned family life to normal, if only for just one brief moment: his 12th
birthday, October 21, 1944. “My mother said, ‘You know Wilhelm, you have a birthday today.’
I said I knew that.” It is a memory that he clearly recalls many decades later.
For what was likely an eternity, and with the German Army making arrangements for
providing food and shelter, Katharina and grandmother Margaretha vigilantly cared for the
younger children for three or four weeks in miserable conditions before word came that the
By the time they were inside Hungary, the pursuing Russian Army was only 20
caravan was wending its way into town, wearily and anxiously. The children would be
kilometres away. Ironically, in one of those quirks of war, little did they know that nearby
rejoined with their parents, as the soldiers had promised. In the height of war, it was a
Heinrich’s infantry unit was holding off Russian troops in the Bezirk Vukovar region along
miracle. As documented in her research, Huber Price describes the reunion:
the majestic Danube, only 25 kilometres from the Drava, as the family crossed into
Hungary. Heinrich had been out of the village with his unit and was only a few days behind
the caravan of refugees that had been forced to flee Sidski Banovci so abruptly.
For his part, Heinrich was unaware that his family had been evacuated from the village and
was unaware that he had also been counter-attacking the advancing Russians, unwittingly
helping the safe passage of both his family and many other families.
Separation and reunion
After several days of progress through Hungary, surprisingly the German Army halted
the caravan, collected the children and the elderly, and put them on trains bound for Austria.
Their youngsters now taken from them, the terrified adults continued on their harrowing and
wretched procession moving anxiously toward the Austrian border and the refugee camps
where they had been told they would be reunited with their children.
From our perspective today, the desperation and hopelessness of the situation must have been
28
unimaginable.
The Huber children took their place among the others who had lined the main
street in the village in order to be seen by their parents as they passed by in their
wagons. As soon as the children spotted the first wagon in the caravan, they all
began to cry out for their mothers and fathers. Dirty, tear-stained faces peered up at
In Hungary, the elderly and children were put on
trains bound for Austria and separated from their
families. It was a frightening ordeal.
the wagon as they drove past. Each of the parents frantically called out for their
children. One by one, the children were scooped up by their mother or father and
placed on the family’s wagon.
Up and down the street, spontaneous individual scenes of intensely excited and
joyous reunions erupted sporadically over and over again as families were drawn together.
Remarkably, in the chaos, the expanse of distance, and through the terror
of being pursued by a highly mechanized twentieth-century army while they were
equipped with only horse and wagon, the Huber family too was safely reunited. Yet, the
caravan spent little time stopping for celebration: instead, it pushed on to Austria and a
29
town called Franking, just outside of Salzburg.
Here, the town’s mayor decreed that Franking residents were to accept the refugees
into their homes as best they could. The order was only grudgingly accepted by some of
the citizenry who were faced with their own hardships and difficult war-time
circumstances over and above helping refugees from another country. As fortune would
have it, the entire Huber family would spend two years cooking, eating, and sleeping in the
seemed impossible, uncomfortable, and tense, the Hubers’ situation was in fact much better
than what many other families were enduring, primarily because their agricultural
background was a benefit. “Actually,” Wilhelm tells it, “because we had been living on a farm
in Austria, we had it relatively good compared to some people who were living in the city.
They had it worse, but my father was able to work for room and board.”
1945 – Learning to walk again
summer kitchen of an Austrian farmhouse, the owner of which was generous and
enlightened about helping the exiled and displaced family.
It was during this period, though, that Wilhelm suffered a serious leg injury while
tobogganing as a 12-year old: at a crucial phase of his growth as an adolescent, his leg
The idea of “displacement” is an exceedingly painful one that deeply affects humans
because it means that all official vestiges of nationality are stripped and that an individual
has no home or country to call his own. In the post-war, the difference between “displaced
persons” (who were assumed to have somewhere to go) and “refugees” (who were classified
Fingerprinted and ineligible for United Nations
assistance: Wilhelm Huber’s “Displaced Person
Identification Card” from 1944. The Huber family
began a period of refugee status in Austria.
as “homeless”) was subtle. Wilhelm’s “Displaced Person Identification Card” (DP) signifies
that he was “ungeklart”—“unsettled,” but the reality was that they had no home or country
to return to. It is a sobering thought when it is considered that there were many millions of
needed to be set in a cast for nearly 2½ years as it was rehabilitated. This was insult added
to injury—having been chased from their home and village, and having had to leave most
of their possessions behind, the family now had to help young Wilhelm with his long
recovery. While just a few months previously he had been travelling on horse and wagon
to markets with his father on Saturdays, now every three months Konrad was carrying his
A serious toboggan accident left Wilhelm on crutches
and in a cast for 2 1/2 years as he rehabilitated his leg.
Younger brother Edward looks on.
son to Salzburg where the cast was removed, his leg examined and x-rayed, and then recasted to ensure that it was growing properly.
“DP’s” struggling to stay alive during this time.
“I had to learn how to walk again,” recalls Wilhelm. “All the costs were paid by my
The tight, cramped quarters of the Franking farmhouse would now be the Hubers’
home as they lived in refugee status; in return, they worked in the farmer’s fields as
father with the savings he brought from Yugoslavia even though he had lost a lot of money
through the currency exchange.” The injury affects Wilhelm to this day.
labourers. After harvest, they and other refugees would scour the countryside hungrily
looking for any remaining potatoes that had been missed. While the living arrangements
30
It turned out that the generous Austrian farmer, although it put a strain on his own
31
family to provide for the Huber family, ended up benefitting from the considerable
and elude his captors by hiding in the thick undergrowth that was growing at the side of the
agricultural experience and strong work ethic that Konrad had brought with him from
tracks until the train pulled away. He was lucky: most of the soldiers in his unit who were
Yugoslavia. He shared with the farmer different techniques and new ideas about farming
on that train were never heard from again.
that he had used when tending to his own fields, vineyards, and livestock in Sidski Banovci.
The Austrian farmer was pleased to learn these new husbandry skills in this spontaneous
agrarian cross-cultural exchange.
A stealthy Heinrich reappears
He crept stealthily through the countryside under cover of darkness staying out of
sight until he came upon a Serbian farmer just outside Budapest, Hungary. Like the farmer
who had welcomed the rest of the Huber family in Austria, this farmer agreed to give
Heinrich shelter and safety in return for him offering his skills and labour as a farm-hand. As
it had been for Konrad and the rest of the family, so Heinrich’s know-how, wherewithal, and
Elsewhere, though, things were less comfortable for Heinrich. He had been captured as
experience of farm life in Sidski Banovci were instrumental in helping save his life.
the partisans swept the countryside under orders of General Tito. Thousands of ethnic
Germans died in concentration camps in Yugoslavia between 1944 and 1948 as 15 million
Germans fled or were expelled from Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. More
than two million people perished in the latter stages of the war, and the mass expulsions and the
civilian deaths continued to occur even while the 1947 Paris peace treaties were signed.
Though Heinrich wisely kept a low profile, the Russians suspected that many
ethnic-German soldiers were posing as civilians, and they too brutally swept the
countryside in search of them as did the Yugoslav partisans. Despite his best efforts,
Heinrich was soon re-captured and sent to work in a coal mine. But in another unexpected
and fortunate turn of circumstances that appeared to be following him, his rescuing
Where Heinrich had been hiding, the word that quickly travelled throughout the
Serbian farmer, so impressed by the young man’s work ethic and agricultural skills, pleaded
countryside was that any captured soldiers identifying themselves as Yugoslavian nationals
with his captors that he needed Heinrich’s help on his farm. And so determined and
had been told that they were being transported back to their homeland. That seemed too
convincing were the farmer’s pleas that Heinrich was luckily released.
good to be true, and Heinrich knew that it was highly suspicious. Much more likely was that
soldiers were being shipped to concentration camps where, in all probability, they would be
executed. Inevitably he was captured, but Heinrich was too sharp for his guards and too
dedicated to rejoining his family. One night, he managed to slip off the train carrying him
32
With some financial help and logistical assistance from the farmer, 1947 was the year
that Heinrich made it into Austria, and it was through a remarkable series of circumstances
that he soon found the rest of the Huber family in Franking and was reunited with them. As
33
Huber Price has retold it based on discussions with her grandfather, Wilhelm was attending a
Wilhelm recounts, “and there were only about 15 or 20 students from the area.
small school that had been a guesthouse. The young Hungarian schoolmaster, himself a war
They demanded a lot. What they were really teaching us was how to set up and
refugee, one day asked Wilhelm to please go with the principal:
run a business. That was the most important thing. It didn’t matter what trade—
[Wilhelm] was told that someone was there to see him and he was quite afraid of
what waited for him. Wilhelm…stepped through the front door of the tiny
schoolhouse. Standing on the other side of the door was his older brother
they taught us that if you worked really hard you could be successful.” It would
be a life-lesson for him that he would pass on to his children.
1950 – An important meeting in Austria
Heinrich.
When he finished his apprenticeship, Wilhelm found himself working in
Heinrich had somehow found his way to Wilhelm’s school: given the chaotic and
desperate circumstances, it was a remarkable reunion, not to say a joyous one.
Wilhelm and Heinrich stand together in a field behind
the butcher shop where they worked in Austria in the
late 1940s.
late-1950 in Holzoster am See, Austria. It was a small town north of Salzburg
near the German border, and Wilhelm was enjoying his work with Ernst
Heinrich’s—and the family’s—good fortune continued almost immediately as he got a
Eugster, a Swiss butcher who owned a thriving business. It was in Holzoster that
good job in a butcher shop. Fate seemed to look kindly on Heinrich and the Hubers in the
Wilhelm bumped into Juliana Kopp at a community dance. It was a spirited
post-war desolation as Europe was reconstructed and rebuilt. His employment as a
celebration, perhaps much like the dances that had been held in the Huber
“fleischermeister,” though the Hubers would not know it at the time, was an important but
gasthaus in Sidski Banovci years before. By the end of the festivities, Wilhelm
small step in the family returning to its roots and re-gaining its previous social standing and
and Juliana had been charmed by one another. Juliana was 17 years old and
business status. And just as important, within a couple of years, at age 16, Wilhelm would
Wilhelm was 18—with the immigration process being in the couple’s plans, it
follow his older brother with a job at the same business. In fact, it was under Heinrich, six years
would take some time before they would be married in Montreal in July of
older than Wilhelm and with a world of war-time experiences under his belt, that the younger
1955.
Huber would begin his apprenticeship into the butcher’s trade.
The apprenticeship program, combining work in the shop and practical training at
A family portrait in Austria in the late 1940s. Front:
Konrad, Rosina; Back: Heinrich, Katharina,
Wilhelm, Eva, Edward.
Juliana Kopp was born to shoemaker Daniel Kopp and Katharina Lahr in
May 1933 in Tscherwenka, Serbia, a village of about 12,500 people. Her mother
the trade school every Monday afternoon, was difficult. “All the trades were mixed,”
34
35
died in 1935, when Juliana was very young, and Daniel remarried to Katharina Mersch in
A New Way Forward In A New Homeland
December. Juliana’s family, like Wilhelm’s, was forced from their home in much the same
way: the German Army hammered urgently on the door and gave very blunt and
frightening orders that they must be gone by lunch. She recalls that was October 11, 1944,
By the late-1940s and with their living conditions settled somewhat in Austria, Konrad
and they evacuated as ordered. Juliana’s immediate family was safe during this time, but she
had already been thinking about finding a new home in a new land that they could call their
sadly lost several cousins in concentration camps, as did thousands of other families.
own. Wilhelm says, “My father always wanted to go to Brazil with the whole family.” At the
Though she herself admits that she had no knowledge of the meat packing business
Wilhelm, left, with an apprentice and a steer in
Austria, early 1950s.
(or of the butcher’s trade), in just a few short years she would eventually find herself playing
an important role in helping build the family company that would be started in Canada by
her husband and his brothers. Working behind the scenes and in the thick of production
at Piller’s, Juliana would eventually be instrumental to helping Wilhelm, Heinrich, and
Edward forge a new path for the Huber family in 1957.
time, South America was a prime destination for eastern Europeans following the war. But by
1951, it was Heinrich who deserved the credit for his foresight and vision: the eldest son gave
Konrad’s dream of relocation a different horizon when he decided to leave his position at the
butcher shop in Austria and emigrate to Canada. Heinrich had gotten married as well and was
embarking on a life of his own. He had often noticed Katharina Weidenbach as she bicycled
past the butcher shop where he had been working. Eventually, like Wilhelm, he soon met his
bride-to-be more formally at a community dance in Austria. After marrying, the couple left for
Canada with Katharina’s parents.
Heinrich’s decision was extremely important to this chapter of the Huber family’s
story. According to Wilhelm, Heinrich reported back positively from Montreal singing
Canada’s praises as a very good place to be and where there were lots of jobs for dedicated,
Current photo of Ernst Eugster butcher shop where
Heinrich and Wilhelm worked in the early 1950s.
hard-working folks like the Hubers. Those reports of Montreal and his enthusiasm rang
true, and the whole family began to give this major change serious consideration based on
Stamped as “Landed Immigrant Status”
in Halifax, N.S., on February 23, 1954.
Heinrich’s glowing accounts.
36
37
Following Heinrich’s path, the Huber family—Konrad, Rosina, grandmother
Katharina had always had a special role by virtue of being the eldest
Margaretha, Wilhelm, Eva, and Edward—left Bremen in northwestern Germany for
child. It had been her responsibility during the family’s period in Austria
Canada on February 11, 1954 bound for Halifax. The arrangements had been made by
to help with the family’s survival, along with Margaretha. She helped
resettlement officials at the World Council of Churches’ Department of Inter-Church Aid
support the family devotedly and had worked hard as a stable-maid at the
and Service to Refugees. At the time, Konrad and Rosina were 52 years old, Margaretha
farm where they had sought refuge. Just as Wilhelm had suffered a
was 73, Eva was 24, Wilhelm was 21, and Edward was 18. The cost of passage aboard the
serious injury, it was during this time that Katharina had an accident
cramped Italian-line vessel “Arosa Kulm”—a ship originally built for the transportation of
involving a horse and wagon as she was completing her chores and was
troops—was a very expensive $154 for each person. Ship officials were no doubt taking
lucky to escape without serious harm.
every advantage of the dire circumstances people were willing to pay to get out of by
cynically packing 20 passengers to a room.
Her earlier experience helping run the family gasthaus eventually
helped her obtain employment as a maid and cook in Salzburg, the
Wilhelm credits his elder brother with the significant step of encouraging the move to Canada
birthplace of Mozart and the setting for the classic film “The Sound of
those many decades ago; they arrived in Nova Scotia with landed immigrant status on February 23,
Music”. She also worked in Braunau, a small village about 60 kilometres
A guarantee from the World Council of Churches that
the Huber family’s “immediate needs” will be taken
care of by council representatives.
1954 before making their way to Montreal. Even today, Wilhelm Jr. acknowledges how coming to
north of Salzburg and one of Austria’s oldest towns. It was no little
Canada—and eventually the City of Waterloo—“was the best thing for the family.”
coincidence that Braunau is the birthplace of Adolf Hitler, the man
Letter dated 29th January 1954 reads:
To Whom It May Concern:
This is to certify that Mr. HUBER Konrad with family,
emigrating to Canada by the help of World Council of
Churches, will be met at the port of arrival (Halifax) by
a representative of our organization who will take care
of their immediate needs and arrange for the Canadian
inland transportation.
Berta Hohermuth
Chief of Resettlement
WCC Salzburg Austria
Katharina and Eva –
“We had lost everything except our lives.”
However, one family member stayed behind, albeit temporarily. Katharina, who was 30 years
old when the Hubers left for Canada, was the last family member to leave for the new country; she
had married in Austria and she and her husband, Karl Juhn, and their children George and Rosina
The Huber family travelled in cramped, uncomfortable
conditions aboard the Arosa Kulm, arriving in Halifax
in 1954.
responsible for starting the war that ultimately set in motion the series of
events that would, like tumbling dominoes, force the Hubers from their
home in Yugoslavia.
After her family had left for Canada, Katharina visited them on a
few occasions, and she and Karl recognized Canada’s beauty and the
wealth of opportunities it offered; soon after these visits, they brought
moved to Germany where they lived for a few years before rejoining her family in Canada.
38
39
their own family to reside in the new country. Her time in Canada was spent mostly raising
The mid- and late-1950s represented a time of remarkable change in Canada. The
her family as they eventually set up a house in downtown Kitchener, Ontario and where
Honourable Lester B. Pearson, the country’s 14th prime minister, won the 1957 Nobel
she worked part-time on occasion at the Piller’s plant. According to a paper written by
Peace Prize for his work resolving the Suez Crisis that had become the focal point for much
family relative, Jessica Budd, detailing Katharina’s experiences and those of the ethnic
of the world in 1956. Louis St. Laurent’s Liberal government was flattened by a rejuvenated
German Danube Swabians, what Katharina recalls most was the sense of hopelessness:
John Diefenbaker Conservative Party, which in 1958 won what was at the time the largest
When we crossed the border to Austria, we were put in camps until it was decided
landslide victory in Canadian political history.
what would become of us. By then, we knew that we would never be able to go
On the scientific front, the renowned Avro CF-105 Arrow—a state-of-the-art
back to our home. We had lost everything except our lives and what we carried
interceptor aircraft of Canadian innovation and design that turned the aviation industry
with us, and that at least we were thankful for.
on its ear—made its maiden flight on March 25, 1958, and was just as quickly mothballed,
Whether eking out a living on the farm in Franking as a “displaced person,” or as a maid in
Salzburg, Katharina said that “it was a very hard time—not to have a home and having to
start from nothing”.
Like Katharina, her sister Eva Huber, two years Wilhelm’s senior, had also taken
employment as a maid in Austria before emigrating with the family. As with so many young
women of the day, Eva, by the time she was 15 or so, was working as a housemaid when she
finished school in Austria. She also contributed to the family business working part-time
when Piller’s would start up in Waterloo. She would have two daughters, Linda and
Rosemary.
purportedly because of pressure from the United States. The majestic Saint Lawrence
Seaway, very likely the world’s largest engineering project at the time, was opened
launching commerce and sea-travel into a new and modern dimension.
At this time, Montreal, where Heinrich had settled at 25 years of age, was Canada’s
largest city at over 1 million people, a teeming French-English metropolis also made up of
a rich mosaic of German, Polish, Jewish, Italian, Dutch, Greek, and Ukrainian immigrants.
It was home to the world’s largest inland port and such was its growth following World
War II that skyscrapers, museums, and a highly modern “Metro” subway system would
soon be built intensifying its cosmopolitan quality. When he arrived shortly after
Heinrich,
Montreal – A surprise arrival
40
Wilhelm
Huber
saw
something
in
this
vibrant “City of Saints” that was a far cry from the gasthaus-calm of Sidski Banovci’s
41
country existence.
Wilhelm joined Heinrich at Sepp’s Sausages, a moderately wellestablished butcher shop with retail stores owned by a businessman named
Karl Bauer. Along with Bauer, Heinrich had been instrumental in seeing
that Wilhelm was sponsored and that he had good living arrangements.
Wilhelm immediately saw to getting Juliana across the ocean to join him.
But they now had a son, Wilhelm Jr. (born in Braunau, Austria in June
1954), and with his new position and living arrangements made, he waited
It was yet another improbable and joyous reunion. After being prevented from
travelling because of her pregnancy and having her immigration delayed because of
restrictions placed on very young children, Juliana and Willy Jr. had surprisingly
shown up not at the airport but at her new home on Clark Street. Juliana—speaking
no English—had resourcefully de-boarded the plane, passed through customs and
immigration, navigated the entire city of Montreal in a taxi, and had remarkably
found their home. Wilhelm rushed to them.
Heading to Ontario
for Juliana and Willy Jr. to fly by turboprop to Canada.
It had been while at Montreal’s Sepp’s that Wilhelm met a fellow butcher
As Huber Price has written, Wilhelm was driven by Bauer to the
airport but “the flight was held back in Amsterdam and problems with
Karl Bauer, centre, with his team at Sepp’s, Montreal.
In the far background is Heinrich making sausage.
refueling in Greenland detained the plane flight even longer. Wilhelm was
told that the flight was now a full day behind.” Disappointed to learn this
news at the airport, he returned to work anticipating another anxious trip
the next day. At work the following day, he was surprised by Bauer who
42
named George Piller—it would prove to be an auspicious meeting for the young
Heinrich, an expert butcher and sausage-maker,
working at Sepp’s in the mid-1950s.
Wilhelm. Only a short time later, Piller, who had relatives in Kitchener, thought
there might be opportunities elsewhere and decided to head west to Ontario to try
his luck. The young man from Sidski Banovci expressed a similar interest in
pursuing other opportunities but just as much the chance to take his young family
out of the hectic urban metropolis of Montreal. After 15 months of the big city,
rushed into the workroom [where] Willy was stuffing sausages and
Wilhelm had decided that, with his country up-bringing and childhood roots in the
exclaimed, “The girl is here! The girl and the boy are here!” Wilhelm
small rural setting of Sidski Banovci, he did not care for an urban existence.
quickly removed his apron and grabbed his jacket to follow Mr. Bauer
Heinrich was expressing similar sentiments. With what seemed like a good
out to his car when he clarified, “No! She is not at the airport... She is
opportunity to explore possibilities, he asked George to let him know what the job
HERE!”
prospects looked like when he got to Waterloo Region.
43
An excited George, in fact, was not gone more than a week when he called Wilhelm in
Montreal with no little sense of urgency to say that there were very good opportunities waiting
and that he was going to re-locate to Waterloo: he had obtained news that a position as a
sausage-maker was opening up at Gronau Meat Packers, then located on Bridgeport Road in
Waterloo. There would be, George advised, other positions available as well.
As he walked along the congested, noisy streets of Montreal, Wilhelm had constantly
been observing businesses and thinking and planning. He confided in Heinrich that he had
been toying with the idea that the brothers should be starting their own business. With images
of the Huber gasthaus in Sidski Banovci—a history that now seemed so long ago—playing in
The fortuitous call from Ontario prompted Wilhelm to take some vacation time, and he
his mind’s eye, Wilhelm was quietly determined to make those old images a new reality.
used the week to travel to Ontario and interview for the position. The meeting and discussions at
Something told him that he had made the right move in tendering his resignation with Sepp’s.
Gronau went well, and Wilhelm liked what he saw of the business; he liked more what he saw in
He wanted to move away from the day-to-day operations of making sausages and other meat
the considerably smaller and calmer town of Waterloo compared to Montreal. Wilhelm returned
products and toward the larger picture of building and managing a business. It was in this
to Sepp’s and, somewhat apologetically, gave his notice.
capacity, he believed, that his true destiny existed.
As Wilhelm had observed it, he had been slowly becoming an integral part of
Wilhelm appreciated what Bauer and Sepp’s had done for him and thanked the
Bauer’s business with Sepp’s, and the owner was disappointed to be losing the young
owner graciously for his support. For both Wilhelm and Heinrich, Bauer had sponsored
butcher’s valuable skills and training. However, Sepp’s was not a small company, having
their immigration to Canada—and just as importantly, he had given the pair their start in
three retail stores and a plant of about 35 employees. Wilhelm, when he assessed his future
the meat processing industry in their adopted country. They were certainly no longer
prospects from his fairly low vantage point in the company hierarchy, calculated that he
“displaced persons,” following the ordeals of 1944; and Wilhelm, Juliana, and their first
would have to put in a lot of time to get ahead. Bauer had a strong staff of experienced
child, Willy Jr., only two years old, prepared to make the trip to Ontario. It was a simple
employees who were still quite a ways from retirement and who were ahead of him in
enough move—and the new job paid better than the $1.25 per hour he was currently
seniority, including his brother Heinrich with his excellent experience as a butcher.
making—but it was a significant step toward starting his own business.
Wilhelm had believed that his chances for advancement at Sepp’s into the company’s
management level were slim.
44
1956 – “There must be something better out there.”
Four weeks after his interview, Wilhelm Huber was in Waterloo as a sausage-maker
with Gronau. He soon was satisfied that he had made the right choice for his young family.
45
All along, he had firmly believed, as he had once stated, “that there must be something
almost immediately that he was closing up the business and suggested that they
better out there.” And he found it in Waterloo Region. Between November 1956 and May
take over his little shop. Weiland laid out his plans to pack things up in the relative
1957, the small family lived comfortably at 100 William Street in Waterloo.
calm that was Waterloo County and head to the hustle-bustle of big-city Toronto,
Ironically, that “something better” was certainly not his three or four months’
employment with Gronau, for it was after that short time that he and George and two other
new employees were suddenly let go because there was not enough work: the complexion of
the Waterloo business had become unexpectedly pale and drawn. It seemed like a dark
moment compared to the dreams that had recently been playing in his head while strolling the
The situation for the newly arrived butchers looked grim indeed. George and
Wilhelm decided that their only course of action was the tried-and-true strategy of
cold-calling: they drove around in search of butchers and meat packers in hopes of finding
a bit of luck and a bit of work. One morning—the morning they had decided they would
visit the unemployment office that afternoon—they took a chance and dropped in on a
Rummelhardt butcher on the outskirts of Waterloo. The timing was almost unbelievable:
what
fate
had
taken
away
at
Gronau,
blind
luck
had
given
back
in Rummelhardt.
Wilhelm and George had walked in, a couple of ambitious and proud butchers—
albeit chastened somewhat by their quick termination at Gronau—and met the owner,
Peter Weiland. It could not have been scripted better: he announced to the young men
46
plans tumbling about in Wilhelm’s head, which he had tentatively shared with
Heinrich, were suddenly now much closer to becoming true. It seemed like a
prime opportunity that he could not see his way to passing up: Wilhelm and
George, therefore, shared equally a $1,000 investment to take over Weiland’s
small operations.
streets of Montreal as a comfortably employed butcher in a stable business.
The generations holding hands: time for family has
always been important to the Hubers. From left,
Wilhelm, Konrad, Willy Jr. (age 3), Rosina, and
Juliana outside Wilhelm and Juliana’s William
Street, Waterloo home in March 1957.
where he wanted to open a retail operation. Those entrepreneurial dreams and
Now in possession of the humble shack, and with a battered old
Volkswagen dutifully serving as their delivery van, Huber and Piller had opened
Celebrating the birth of Piller’s Meat Packers at
Wilhelm’s 100 William Street residence in Waterloo.
their first butcher shop. Their training and experience had given them a solid
background, and they immediately started making their own meat products.
Their creations would soon start to gain a considerable reputation, and it marked
the beginning of Wilhelm Huber’s presence in an industry over which he would
soon have a significant influence.
The pair would slaughter four or five pigs, perhaps a cow, and process them
for sale. Using only a few rudimentary tools and little equipment to start out, they
made sausages until things got rolling and they could purchase more equipment
to increase production. Together, the partners produced delicatessen-quality
47
meats based on Wilhelm’s family background and with the experience and
in business today, helped Wilhelm and George find a more suitable
sense of tradition and taste he had started to put to work at Sepp’s in
location—the building at 443 Wismer Street, the present-day
Montreal. They sold these popular European-styled meats to Weiland in
location of the Piller’s primary facility and corporate head office. In
Toronto, but they were also starting to make a name for themselves at the
the spring of 1957, with the money from the sale of the
Waterloo and Kitchener Farmers’ Markets.
Rummelhardt property which had been topped up with the
June 1957 – 443 Wismer Street
Early staff worked long hours. From left to right:
George Piller, Heinrich, Edward, Wilhelm, and
employee Heinz Goetz.
Piller purchased the Wismer facility for $31,000 and took
After only three months in Rummelhardt selling their products on-
possession on June 1: Piller Sausages and Delicatessens Ltd. was
site and at the markets, Wilhelm’s growing experience and savvy eye for
born. It was a name that had been decided upon as much for a
production soon told him that the business needed better facilities and that
practical convenience as through any planned marketing or business
they could not feasibly stay at the cramped location, especially during the
strategy: it had simply been that George Piller had already travelled
humid southern Ontario summers.
to the appropriate government office to register the name.
The two butchers were running a new business, perhaps; but a
Wismer Street was then a dead-end road cut into gently
struggling one, certainly not. They needed to move to larger, more modern
rolling farmland in the northeast of Waterloo, virtually at the
facilities if they hoped to stay in business and flourish—their meat
Woolwich Township border. Today, in the still relatively rural
processing volume was starting to outgrow the little wooden shack. After
Lexington area of the city and until the suburbs encroach, Wismer
only a few months, their products were being met with such sharp demand
Street is bounded by the Grand River to the north, the Melitzer
that the businessmen decided to move their operations to a farm in north
woodlot to the south, and the Bromberger woodlot to the
Waterloo.
southwest. In 1957, it must have reminded Wilhelm somewhat of
Margaret Schiketanz, a local real estate agent whose company is still
48
financial assistance of their families, Wilhelm Huber and George
Friends, family and customers gather in front of the
new Wismer Street shop in the spring of 1958. The
delivery truck on the left is the original truck from
Rummelhardt.
the rustic and agricultural surroundings of Sidski Banovci. It was
certainly worlds apart from cosmopolitan Montreal. Whatever
49
recollections it triggered, and however similar it might have seemed to the setting of the
Huber gasthaus, the Wismer location would turn out to be an inspired choice as the true
starting point for Wilhelm’s dream of rebuilding his family’s business.
The two butchers also had a stand at the Kitchener Farmers’ Market where
First, though, they had to rebuild the family’s living quarters. They planned on
most of their meat products were sold. At the same time, the young firm’s single
moving from William Street and into the farmhouse across from the plant. When she
part-time employee—its first commissioned sales representative—drove around
entered, Juliana promptly turned around and refused to set foot in the home: “I’m not
the countryside from Fergus to Hanover selling out of the truck salami, picnic
living here until you build me a proper bathroom!” she asserted. The farmhouse
hams, and cooked meats to several smaller retailers and butcher shops.
was soon fixed up and met her specifications, and there was a barn with a few
chickens producing a good complement of eggs which would help Juliana set up a
comfortable household.
As did his brothers and cousins, Willy Jr. grew up at
the plant. Here he displays a beef hoof at the front door
at Wismer Street in 1957, within the first weeks of
opening.
Heinrich and Eddy Join Piller’s –
“Working hard together to make things go.”
As volumes grew, thanks greatly to aggressive salesmanship, the company sold
more meats at the market and took the opportunity to do the same at the Kitchener
There were difficult times for her—she had two children, Conrad now having been
significant. Until 1959, the partners had been doing everything in their business
born—among which was her fall in the plant where she damaged the tendons in her wrist.
from slaughtering to production and from marketing and sales to managing the
It made it tough to care for the children, but the neighbours lent a hand until she had
accounts and seeing to equipment repairs and building-renovations.
recovered. Regardless, when she reflects on it now, Juliana is certain about one thing:
through all the growth of the company and the periods of uncertainty, what she expresses
most is an immense sense of pride. She did not, she will readily admit, know much about
the sausage-making business, but it was her firm belief that the family was working
together as a team very well and for that she was grateful.
Willy Jr. with his canine friends at the plant during
the winter of 1957.
stockyards that were once located on Victoria Street. The company’s growth was
It took considerable energy and time to see to all of the details of even a small
business. After only 18 months of seven-day work-weeks that regularly soared to
100 hours, George Piller decided to pursue other opportunities. He recognized that
most of the Huber family was in the meat processing industry and entertained
selling his shares to Heinrich and Eddy. After negotiations, Piller left the company
to start his own rendering business, and the meat-packing company was in the sole
hands of the Huber family. It was momentous occasion.
50
51
The family continued to work those long hours over seven-day weeks, just as their
There were regular die-hard customers, in fact, who would venture out in driving
Sidski Banovci work ethic told them. George’s departure had opened the door to a key
snowstorms at eight or nine o’clock in the evening on the desolate unplowed roads of north
moment in the reunification of the Huber family from a business perspective. Drawing
Waterloo for the Huber brothers’ meats and sausage creations. With this well-established
wages only enough to live on, the motivating force for the band of brothers, their father,
clientele, Wilhelm had taken the decision to keep things simple and straightforward—a kind
and other family members was teamwork—and it was starting to pay off. Wilhelm
of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude—by retaining the original and popular name. To his
gathered the family together and said, “Now, we really have to work together in order to
entrepreneurial judgment, it simply made good business sense.
make things go.”
Preparing orders for delivery at the original butcher
shop. Wilhelm is standing on the left behind the original
counter.
It is entirely fitting that Heinrich, the man whom in many ways gave Wilhelm his
opened up in front of him. With a foresight that has guided the Huber family to this day,
start, now joined him in his exciting new business endeavour along with their younger
what he saw concerned him somewhat: he knew that the company needed to continue to
brother, Edward. Heinrich stayed at his job in Montreal until joining the operation in
grow in order to gain traction.
Waterloo in 1959. It was at this point that Wilhelm recognized that it was imperative that
they combine their skills and talents to return the Huber name to its former prominence.
Brothers Heinrich and Edward, of course, agreed.
52
That issue behind him, Huber looked ahead to the new business landscape that had
Growing family pride. Growing entrepreneurship.
Since he had taken over the property—the building and the 20 acres of land on
Huber also recognized that the small business continued to earn a considerable
which it sat—Huber was envisioning a larger business. The main building was small, with
reputation and was building a significant clientele who liked the products they were
a cramped closet-sized office big enough for only one person. There was a little store with
making. It turned out to be a wise decision to retain the Piller’s name, even though George
a simple counter and just behind that a tiny cooler and a work table along with a small
had now left. The company was growing a solid and dedicated customer base, and similarly
smoke-house and a large wood-fired kettle for rendering. In fact, small and humble was the
growing word-of-mouth about the top-quality meat products being produced by the
order of the day, but Wilhelm recognized the pressing need for a more complex and
Huber brothers eventually delivered their name around Kitchener, Waterloo, and the
ambitious facility. Yet, it is a testament to his sense of history, tradition, and family roots
surrounding townships.
that the spirit of the business—the original physical area represented by the three-
One of the first ledger sheets from 1957. Several
recognizable businesses are listed: Knechtel’s
Wholesale, Kissner Milling, and Beaver Lumber.
Piller’s also did business with other well-known local
companies: Boehmer’s Wm. Knell, Martin Feed,
Clemmer Welding, and Smith Transport.
53
dimensional model in the boardroom—remains virtually at the centre of today’s much
this special salami. It was a unique product requiring a 40-day aging process, and he saw
larger-scale operation.
that it received a registered trademark as a distinct and proprietary product made only by
Throughout the renovations, the spirit of the gasthaus of Sidski Banovci was present: just
as Rosina had had her role to play at the gasthaus, so Juliana would prepare snacks, coffee, and
meals for the workers who had been hired as the business began to grow. During the plant
expansions, employees and friends offered to help with the construction, and it was Juliana who
prepared food for the men as they put the additions onto the building. Even Juliana’s father, Daniel
Kopp—a skilled bricklayer—jumped into the fray to lend his hand. The workers, in the timehonoured way, were often paid in meats and sausages for their labour and skill.
the Hubers. It even garnered recognition from the Hungarian Embassy, and a Hungarian
coat of arms adorns the packaging today. The production of Szegedi salami at once
continues a family tradition and is a representation of how tradition had moved the
Hubers to both a new hemisphere and a new level of entrepreneurship.
“It’s in the family tradition,” Wilhelm will state proudly about this moment. “This is
when I said, ‘You know what? We will be able to return this family to what it was before.’”
Heinrich – “A good-hearted person and a very hard worker.”
The sense of family pride seemed to grow in relation to the entrepreneurial
Julianna, top photo, helping in the salami drying room
in 1958. Below, in her role as a mother with Willy Jr.
and Conrad under the willow trees at the farmhouse,
1959
54
challenges that the family met. For Wilhelm, coming to Canada with such a highly skilled
A great reason that Piller’s was able to make such a “return” was Heinrich Huber.
and useful trade as a “fleischermeister” had proved to be vital. “When you came to
Born in 1926, Heinrich played an important role as much by traditional and inherited
Canada,” he says, “with such a trade as a butcher, you were lucky because there was so much
customs as by a self-determined career choice: Heinrich had stayed on the path as a butcher
going on.” But he also found himself needing to draw on those business lessons he had
most of his life. And it was just as much his determination and sense of family and strong
taken as an apprentice, taught once a week for three years.
work ethic that gave him success.
The lessons had impressed upon him that though hard work was key, so was
His was a career path that fittingly started in his birthplace, Sidski Banovci, where he
attention to fine quality. It had been in Austria that Wilhelm had learned a lot about
got his training and trade papers by the time he was 18 years old and where, as tradition
making sausage, especially the “Szegedi” salami (a Hungarian salami with a paprika
dictated as the oldest son, he had planned on taking over the family business in Yugoslavia
flavouring, Szeged being a large town in southeastern Hungary noted for its paprika), from
before the war dashed those hopes. “He lost an opportunity. There was nothing you could
his master-butcher employer. Years later in Canada, Huber developed his own version of
do about it,” Wilhelm says looking back. “It just happened.”
Heinrich making sausage in Waterloo, 1959.
55
His younger brother will quickly add that Heinrich could not say anything bad
smoke the meat which gave them the chance to live on it for a very long time. These
about anybody. “He was a good-hearted person and a very hard worker,” says Wilhelm.
villagers, and Heinrich, were repeating an age-old tradition that is continued on a much
What Heinrich brought to the business was a lot of training and key experience gained in
larger scale by the Huber family today, although technology and processing methods have
Montreal as a sausage-maker. He was unquestionably an excellent meat-cutter and
changed tremendously.
butcher—skills that would prove essential to the business. But more importantly, he was
in Wilhelm’s words, “a very good man,” and he regularly brought to the company many
important ideas that impacted its growth.
Piller’s plant expansion in the late 1950s.
Wilhelm recalls from his youth how Heinrich and their father Konrad used to make
a special “gulan” salami each winter that was salted, cured, smoked, and air-dried. “It took
four or five months to dry, and it was only cut after grape harvest was done. We had it with
Heinrich’s completion of his three-year apprenticeship training virtually
fresh bread and cheese. It was the best salami! It wasn’t sold to anybody and was made for
coincided with his being drafted into the army at age 19. While Konrad was serving
our family only.” Wilhelm and his brothers would eventually create a version of this sausage
in the army, it was Heinrich’s responsibility, from a young age, to perform the tasks of
recipe that is still being used today—it is a recipe based on the way Heinrich, and parents
a butcher and sausage-maker. Heinrich refused to accept this responsibility as a
Konrad and Rosina Huber, made it in Sidski Banovci many decades ago.
chore—it was part of the Huber’s dedication to the family that would stay with him
his entire life. His young age did not prevent him from accomplishing those tasks:
Heinrich and Katherina met in Austria in the mid1950s. They married in Canada.
Heinrich, the much loved member of the Huber trio of brothers, died at his home in
Naples, Florida in February 21, 2004—his absence from Piller’s has always been sadly noticed.
travelling to a butcher shop in a nearby village, he brought the processed meat back to
Sidski Banovci because Heinrich was required to work under the supervision of a
master butcher. He left a portion of the meat with the master butcher and returned
home with the rest to prepare for sale.
Wilhelm’s uncle Jakob was a first-rate butcher in his
own right. Here Wilhelm gives him a tour during a
visit from Philadelphia, USA.
56
“Eddy! You’re a hero!”
Three years younger than Wilhelm, Edward was born in Sidski Banovci on September
24, 1935. He is described by his older brother Wilhelm as having been a resourceful and bright
Like many other small villages at the time, farmers would slaughter their
young student at various school levels in Austria. When it came time for Edward—referred to
own livestock in November and December, make dry-cured hams, and store the
more casually as Eddy, a name that better fit his friendly personality—to pick a trade, there
foodstuffs. Many farmers would process four or five pigs and then salt, cure, and
were few opportunities as an immigrant following the expulsions of 1944. His search finally led
57
him to an apprenticeship as a cabinet-maker in Austria.
Eddy worked diligently at his trade for several years honing his skills and learning
the intricacies of this useful though demanding craft. Eventually, when he arrived in
Montreal in 1954, he carried on the trade and became highly proficient at making cabinets
and furniture before heading to Ontario in 1959, along with the rest of the family who had
followed Wilhelm.
His older brother had always recognized that bright and resourceful character as it
pertained to his personality and his success in his studies. In the back of his mind, Wilhelm
had sensed that those qualities would some day serve Eddy—and the family—very well
indeed. At these early stages, though, Wilhelm was just not exactly sure how it would all
play out for his brother within the rather limited confines of the small but growing family
business. Working at the business from the manufacturing perspective, Wilhelm was
always inside the plant and always concerned with product and operations. With only a
see what kind of luck he might have with selling product. They were goods which could
not easily be sold in one day, and Wilhelm was curious to see what might happen. One
item in particular, one of the Huber’s European-style salamis, was perfect for travelling in
the old Volkswagen van in the heat of summer all the way to Toronto. So, off Eddy went,
a professional cabinet-maker, on his assigned task into the big city.
Sure enough, Eddy returned home from his Toronto expedition later that afternoon
proclaiming that he had sold every last bit of salami. To the staff at the plant, it was
something of a miracle, and they were astounded by the success. Wilhelm shouted: “Eddy!
You’re a hero!” Playing just a hunch, Wilhelm had found the perfect role for Eddy, and an
important new step in the Huber family business was taken. “You’re in,” Wilhelm excitedly
exclaimed to his younger brother. “Eddy, you just go to Toronto everyday when we have
product, and you sell it!”
few people employed at the facility, he was uncertain as to how best use his younger
The Huber family business was flirting with what seemed to be infinite growth—
brother’s skills; however, along with Heinrich, Wilhelm was determined to see him
every time Eddy went to Toronto, he came back with more customers. With salami, for
through to success and make sure Eddy was an important part of the company. That much
instance, taking three or four weeks to make before it was ready for shipment, Eddy’s sales-
of which, Wilhelm and Heinrich were certain.
savvy required more and more product and more and more advanced planning. And
He once suggested to Eddy in a rather puzzling statement that at the same time was
destined to be prophetic: “Eddy,” Wilhelm said, “I have no work for you, but I’ve got a
good job for you.” So, as a bit of an experiment, Wilhelm and Heinrich wanted Eddy to
58
take a van packed with boxes of salami and call on several delis and butchers in Toronto to
Konrad, centre, was a hard-working member of the
team. He helps Heinrich, left, and Wilhelm load up for
a trip to the market at 3am on a Saturday.
production at the plant had to increase dramatically to keep up with that demand. It was
at this point that Wilhelm was very impressed. He was beginning to sense, as his goal for
the family had been reminding him, that their hard work and dedication were paying off.
59
“You make the product and I’ll move it!”
In addition to knowing what he was selling, Eddy was a hard worker
involved in getting product to the market just like the rest of the staff. And just
like the rest of that staff, he arrived at the plant early in the morning to help with
a shipment that had been delivered for processing. In the meantime, his orders
were being prepared, and when they were ready for him, he would leave to make
his own deliveries and take more orders. Going to Toronto, for Eddy, was
synonymous with gaining more customers for the business.
The salami production line in the late 1950s.
But among his strongest attributes was his ability to instantly gain folks’ trust
and make friends—in any business, that’s an indisputably important trait. Wilhelm
categorizes his first sale a “success sale”—it built his confidence and motivated him
to tackle other sales projects. It was also an important step as the business strove to
find new markets for their increasingly popular products. “I was very proud of what
Eddy had so easily accomplished, but I also said that now we had better start making
a lot more product with him out there,” Wilhelm adds.
1961 – Loblaws Calling
Eddy, Wilhelm puts it proudly, was “a go-getter.” Like Heinrich, he notes,
Eddy’s salesmanship and entrepreneurial spirit evolved from selling Piller’s
when Eddy got an idea into his head that he wanted to do something, he did it;
products out of the old Volkswagen van to taking orders and bringing them back
when he committed to a job, he completed it. The result of that perseverance and
to the plant, thus starting production-to-order. It became an important step in
determination was always a benefit to the company. His refrain to the sausage-
improved production efficiency, but at times it was almost too much. “I
makers in the plant was, “You make the product, and I’ll move it.” In this respect,
remember one day,” Wilhelm will still laugh as he tells the story, “it was
Eddy was in essence the company’s research and development division in those
unbelievable. Eddy called us from Toronto and said, ‘I need about 200 sticks of
years of the early 1960s. “He would say to me, ‘Can you make this or that product,’
bologna.’” In disbelief, Wilhelm looked at Heinrich and Heinrich looked at
and we made it. Eddy then sold it the next day,” says Wilhelm.
Wilhelm, who said of the order, “I almost had a heart attack. I asked Eddy, ‘How
Business was picking up and demand growing. Above is the
first salami aging room, 1960.
do you want us to do that?!’”
But do it they did. Heinrich and Wilhelm stayed up long hours making stick
Piller’s largest single-day salami production in 1960.
By 1962, a new larger shipping room was needed.
after stick of the bologna order, and Eddy drove it to Toronto and delivered the van-
60
61
load to Loblaws by himself. The year was 1961, and Eddy’s surprising—and exciting—long
distance call represented the young business’s first time selling to a chain of retail stores.
Eddy showing new packaged meats at a local Zehrs
store, mid-1970. He was a dynamic and energetic
individual who was the “face” of the company.
Always following their strong sense of family roots, the trio of Huber brothers had
Shortly thereafter, inspired by this initial success, the Huber brothers made an
brought Rosina and Konrad from Montreal in the early 1960s, and even at this point in his
important decision for their business. Eddy’s travels and meetings with dozens of buyers
life, though he was now in his 60s, Konrad Huber played an important supporting role with
throughout the province had impressed on him that if the company wanted to continue to
the company. He’d seen a lot of change in the business—and the world in general—from his
sell to more supermarket chains and bolster their growth, they needed to be a federally
days in Sidski Banovci, and Konrad contributed regularly to the work in the butcher shop
inspected meat packer. He brought his insights to Heinrich and Wilhelm where they were
when he came to Waterloo. He put his full hours in, even on Saturdays, and then went home
immediately acknowledged.
just like the rest of the team.
Eddy, long a dynamic member of the Huber team, had been the catalyst in achieving
The Wismer property had a large pasture and a barn where Konrad kept 15 or so
the quest for the company’s wholesale growth. Marrying later in life, he passed away only a
head of cattle for a time. Diligently, just as it was back in the old country, he took care of the
few years later in 1990. He left no children and was truly missed by the Huber family and
cattle—it was both a hobby that he enjoyed doing, and it meant a little bit of money when
the community of Piller’s employees: his memory, his hard work, and his good nature
he sold the livestock. It was one of the those very sad ironies, therefore, that Konrad Huber,
remain an inspiration today. It is only fitting that the “Eddy Huber Award” for excellence
the hard-working and dedicated family man who had controlled the horses while the
in sales is presented to a Piller’s employee each year.
Yugoslavian countryside was being strafed and bombarded in order to protect his family
May 1965 – A very sad accident
during the exodus from Sidski Banovci in 1944; the man who had ensured their survival as
refugees in a strange land and who eventually saw their safe arrival in Canada, died tragically
By 1960, thanks primarily to Eddy’s boundless energy and efforts coupled with
while working at the plant just as the business was gaining momentum and further
Heinrich’s steady and calm strength as an anchor for the brothers, the company’s sausages
success—a momentum and success to which he had contributed both directly and
and meats were found in stores throughout the Region of Waterloo, the outlying areas, and
indirectly in his leadership and knowledge of the butcher’s trade.
in delicatessens and grocery outlets throughout Ontario, including markets such as
62
Toronto, London, and Hamilton with their diverse ethnic populations.
Konrad, while working in the back of the plant one fine and sunny Saturday
63
morning, May 22, 1965, was collecting scrap and garbage to be burned at the facility. The
order to preserve it—hence, the phrase “meat-packing” industry. And that
incinerator was not firing properly, and Konrad opened the heavy steel door to see what
industry had been regulated by authorities in colonial Canada as early as the
was happening. In an instant, a rush of oxygen stoked the fire viciously and the pressure
1700s. At that time, butchers were required to inform colonial officials when
inside caused a sudden back draft throwing open the door with violent force. The door hit
they were about to process an animal for food. By 1805, Lower Canada
Konrad in the head mortally wounding him. His son Wilhelm was one of the first on the
passed legislation regarding the quality of packed meat, and federal meat-
scene.
inspection legislation became law in Canada in 1907 by virtue of the “Meat
It was truly a sad moment that caught the entire family—both young and old—by
surprise. In many ways, Konrad’s death changed the complexion of the business:
“at that point, everyone in the company was pulled together even closer,” Willy Jr. has said
when looking back on the accident.
“Everyone in the company was pulled
together even closer.” The father who
ensured the family’s survival in their
escape from Sidski Banovci died in an
accident at the Piller’s plant. This photo
of Konrad Huber was taken in
Salzburg, Austria, in early 1953.
1968 – Federal Inspection and Growing Orders
meat sold interprovincially or internationally. A combination of the law, the
industry’s own standards, and consumer demand have helped meat and meat
products eclipse wheat as the largest agricultural export in Canada.
Qualifying for federal inspection under what is now the Meat
A bright blue and yellow design catches the eye in this
first Piller’s “reefer” truck, 1960.
Inspection Act was a process that required a lot of work and significant
The mid-1960s saw the first space walk take place, and the race to the moon was in
renovations in order to meet the rigorous government standards. The Piller’s
high gear. Even though they were recovering from the tremendous loss of Konrad, the
building had to be renovated and upgraded in key areas of the facility: it was
family was encouraged by their own race toward significant growth, along with positive
costly and required time and construction. The company needed to show
feedback from customers. The Huber brothers had taken a decision to enter aggressively
compliance with the Food and Drugs Act and its regulations, as well as the
the wholesale market and widen their products’ distribution. In order to do so, Piller’s
Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act and its regulations. Having complied
became an accredited federally inspected meat processing plant in April 1968 and was now
with these acts meant that Piller’s could ship their products outside the
able to crack fully the lucrative chain retail stores across the country.
province and outside the country.
In the era before there was refrigeration, meat was “packed” into barrels of brine in
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and Canned Foods Act.” The act set rigid standards for the preparation of all
The Hubers were equal to the task—it was all part of the continuous
65
growth and expansion that had been driving Piller’s forward. Having reached this
Heinrich had gained considerable experience working the retail side of
milestone, Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Eddy had only a slight inkling of what it might mean
Sepp’s Meats in Montreal and enjoyed this aspect of the business, so he took
to the development of their business: at the time, however, they had simply been too busy
the lead and oversaw both the farmers’ market business and Huber’s
filling orders and making product to fully recognize just how important the
Delicatessen retail operations. “It was a good fit for us,” Wilhelm says of the
accomplishment would turn out to be.
pairing of the delis and Heinrich. The “fit” that they had observed for
Huber’s Delicatessens
The grand opening of Huber’s Deli at Stanley Park
Mall in 1978.
Huber’s Delicatessens was a need to offer high-quality meats and special
imported products aimed at serving the region’s European clients as well as
At roughly the same time, the 1960s also saw the Hubers establish a place for Piller’s
new immigrants. The other, and perhaps more important, factor revolved
in the retail business, in addition to the over-the-counter service they provided at the
around the move to federal inspection—it was no longer possible to permit
Kitchener Farmers’ Market. They opened their first store on King Street East virtually
the general public to enter the Wismer Street plant for health and safety
right across from their stand at the market. The brothers took over an existing retail meat
concerns. Opening the retail stores, therefore, was an essential step for the
shop and renovated it to their specifications and re-opened it as Huber’s Delicatessens.
Huber business.
Several years later, when the lease expired at the King Street location, the shop moved to
Lancaster Street in the Bridgeport area of Kitchener.
Heinrich was well-suited to run the delicatessens.
“He loved it,” says Wilhelm. Here he works the counter
helping the Hubers’ first customer at the Stanley Park
Mall location, 1978.
Over time, however, and as the activities at their main plant increased
steadily, Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Eddy decided to focus on growing their
They opened a second deli in the Towers Plaza on Bridgeport Road in Waterloo by
business on the wholesale side, and after a successful run of serving their loyal
the late-1960s, and a third was opened in Stanley Park Mall in the late 1970s. As Wilhelm
customers for many years, they closed their retail operations. But, curiously
states, “we had many, many people coming all the way out to the Wismer plant, and it
enough, there remains a slight connection to one of the original retail
didn’t really make sense to sell to the public out of this facility.” It was becoming
operations. To this day, Piller’s still sells their products to the business that
impractical to have someone stop work at the busy plant in order to make a small retail
bought their deli at the Towers plaza location, though it has now moved to
sale—hence, Huber’s Delicatessens were created to service retail clientele enabling the
the Lakeshore area of Waterloo.
Hubers to be dedicated full-time to each specific and growing sector of their market.
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These unfolding business developments marked a new era in the
Tradition Continued
company’s evolution. There was a lot of renovation required in the plant to
bring it up to the necessary federal standards, but the effort and expense were
worth it because it meant the Huber’s line of high-quality food products
With Konrad’s memory (and that of grandmother Margaretha, who
could now have an important consumer presence at growing local
had passed away May 8, 1968) as inspiration still firmly in their minds, in the
supermarkets chains like Dutch Boy and Zehrs, and the established national
late-1960s, Wilhelm Jr., in coordination with Wilhelm, Juliana, and relatives
chains as well as outside the country. As Wilhelm noted of the brothers’
in Germany, arranged to take an apprenticeship as a butcher. It was another
decision, the company needed to take the step, and he maintains today that it
milestone for the business as the step made him the fifth generation of
was one of the best moves they could have made for their business. With their
Hubers to do so.
place in the local markets firmly established, Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Eddy
could now sell more products and grow further yet.
Eddy and George Juhn, Katharina’s son, at the CNE
grounds in the late 1970’s.
But the decision was not taken merely to keep alive some sort of artificial
“record” for consecutive master butchers in one family. Wilhelm had a clear
Becoming a federally inspected plant required
renovations and expansions in 1968.
strategy in mind for his son and the company as a whole—the younger Huber
needed to extend his knowledge of the trade outside of the family business in
order to gain new and different knowledge and wider perspectives that would in
turn be used to broaden Piller’s knowledge base and expand their presence in the
industry. It was part of the philosophy of always moving ahead.
A fifth generation “fleischermeister”
In Burghausen, in the Altotting district of Germany, Willy Jr. worked
long days, starting with 4:00 a.m. risings, shouldering heavy sides of pork
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69
through streets too narrow to permit vehicles to the butcher shop and deli store, and
attending trade school. Like his father and grandfather before him, he was learning the
trade and its business in a hands-on manner. After a year or so, Willy Jr. moved his
apprenticeship to Metzgerei (butcher shop) Reinhold Hoffmann Ubern Neckar
Oferdingen, Germany. He worked and studied just as hard there for two and a half years
and completed his apprenticeship with an honours distinction.
When he returned to Waterloo in 1974, ready to apply his new skills and experience
to the family business, Willy Jr. was confronted with a notably different industry than he
had previously known, including the physical expansions to the Wismer plant. Though he
had grown up there, he returned to a facility that he barely recognized so rapid had been
the company’s growth.
Since the late-1960s, the Hubers had seen the business grow at a startling rate, in
The trio of brothers in the mid-1970s.
fact. Now, the original plant in Waterloo could no longer handle the increasing demand for
“Growth is key.”
Ringing in his ears were Eddy’s familiar words from several years earlier—a simple
formula for quelling the fears surrounding the major investment: “If you can make the
product, I can sell it,” Eddy had confidently said. Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Eddy took their
cue from this philosophy that “growth is key.”
There were many times in the company’s evolution that the brothers could pinpoint a
Part of the next generation: Willy Jr., Conrad, and
Henry in the mid-1970s.
moment that indicated the Huber’s family business had reached an important level of
success—a point where they could say, “We’ve made it, so we can stop.” But the brothers
never looked back. They sought always to keep the business growing, equating that growth
with the company’s very survival. “If you’re thinking you’re going to stop growing at some
point, that’s the point you might as well get out of the business. We have always looked
ahead,” Wilhelm notes. It is a philosophy that the company has always held and one which
the subsequent generations of Hubers have grown into as second nature.
their high-quality, European-style meat products, none of which was being produced
elsewhere in Waterloo Region and few places in the country. So, in 1971 the family had
invested $1 million in the expansion of the Waterloo plant. It was the biggest financial
decision that the Huber brothers had yet taken for the family business—it was an immense
amount of money for the early 1970s. Wilhelm was confident, though, and said of the
investment in his matter-of-fact way, “I wasn’t scared—the bank was. They didn’t want to
give me the money, but I finally got it.”
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1982 – 25 years: international acclaim and employee recognition
In their observations of what was going on in the market-place, the Huber
businessmen chose to take only brief glances left and right when it came to worrying about
what the competition around them was doing. Piller’s, Wilhelm has repeatedly noted, has
always had its own goals and vision—and by the early-1970s that vision had manifested
itself in the fact that Piller Sausages & Delicatessens Ltd. had become the largest meat
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packer in Waterloo, one of the largest and most prominent independent
down Volkswagen van for deliveries, there is now a local fleet of tractor-
specialty food producers in the nation, and a company that was
trailers and many outside carriers crossing North America delivering Piller’s
recognized world-wide.
products.
In 1982, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the City of
An investment of $1,000 in 1957 has grown remarkably into a family
Waterloo, Piller’s celebrated its 25th anniversary with festivities, events,
business with annual sales easily in the many tens of millions of dollars.
and the creation of a 25-foot salami. Amidst employees, the general
Having once served only a few local shops a small handful of different
public, and civic dignitaries, the salami was sliced and served at a
varieties of meat products in the late-1950s, the Hubers now have one of the
ceremony in Waterloo’s Memorial Arena. As Piller’s grew and grew,
highest consumer profiles in major supermarket chains and gourmet
Wilhelm had always maintained that the employees had been a vital part
delicatessens in both Canada and the United States. Furthermore, the Piller’s
Though the company’s growth was rapid, the
brothers remained a strong team. Eddy, Wilhelm, of the company’s success, and continue to be so today. Many of the staff had
and Heinrich in the 1960s.
been with the business from its early decades, and there were also a host of
1982 marked 25 years
as Waterloo’s preeminent meat processing
company. From left to
right: Conrad, Eddy,
Wilhelm, Willy Jr., and
Heinrich.
dedicated suppliers and loyal customers. In many ways, the employees,
suppliers, and regular customers had very much become an extended Piller’s
“family.” Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Edward—and the next generation of
Hubers—have always recognized that.
At the company’s facilities, plant-expansion had followed plantexpansion virtually every year since 1957. The main facility and head-office
on Wismer Drive had grown more than 100 times in area with a staff that had
snowballed from the original two butchers to an employee-count in the
hundreds. Where the three brothers once relied on a tired and old handed-
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name is recognized around the world.
Inside the Wismer Street plant is state-of-the-art equipment from
Celebrating 1982 and 25 years at the Waterloo Arena
with a salami 25 feet long are Willy Jr., Wilhelm, and
Eddy.
Germany and the United States, some of which is the only machinery of its
kind in Canada. Other machines are one of only two pieces of equipment on
the continent. Upgrades and improvements both to that equipment and
product lines anticipating consumer demand are on-going—it is all part of
the drive to move forward. And it is all part of a well-managed and rigorously
monitored production process that runs like clockwork.
The technology and the expertise of the staff continue to help Piller’s
win accolades and awards from its European peers—Switzerland, Denmark,
Holland, and Germany—for meat- and sausage-making excellence.
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In a international food competition sponsored by the Austrian Meat Packers
that product he had with him in the company van only to return home with yet more
Association in Wels, Austria, Piller’s products brought home 18 medals—13 gold, four
orders. During that time, the Hubers maintained a simple, two-fold approach to the
silver, and one bronze—in addition to a trophy for the quality of their sausages. It was a
practicalities of running a business: expanding the company’s reach into new and growing
circle come full: the family who had regrouped in Austria after 1944 had in the 1980s
markets and constantly evolving with the changing tastes of what their customers want.
returned there to win awards for their fine European meat products made in Canada. They
Accordingly, the brothers soon realized that they needed to venture into poultry products.
also won bronze and silver medals at the International
At a time when they had turkey products made on their behalf but foresaw a need for
European Food Fairs of 1981 and 1982, respectively, as well
increased volume, they needed to find a partner.
as numerous awards from other competitions.
The firm was now processing some 10 million pounds
The demands of space and the need for adequate facilities go hand-in-hand with
growing market niches, so in 1986 the Hubers embarked on an ambitious and extensive
of meat into over 120 delicatessen products. At the time, this number represented one
65,000-square-foot addition to the Wismer Street processing plant in order to meet
product for nearly every employee in the company. As well, this marked the point where,
increasing customer demand. They also met with that demand and then some when
over almost 30 years, the Hubers had seen their physical plant facilities grow to over
in 1989 they joined with P & H Foods, a division of Parrish & Heimbecker: Golden Valley
100,000-square-feet during 15 phases of extensive renovations and additions. In 1985, a
Farms, a turkey and chicken processing plant in Arthur, Ontario, was born. It represented
52,000-square-foot expansion was begun primarily to house new state-of-the-art smoke-
a unique step into poultry processing for the Huber family.
houses that play such an important role in production. In that same year, they were
1982 trophy from a European competition: Piller’s
again is recognized for sausage-making excellence on
the international stage. The trophy was given for
receiving the most gold medals.
producing 100,000 kilograms of meat products weekly—enough to pack six tractortrailers from nose to tail.
Continued quality, new products, further expansion
Expansion followed expansion at the main plant...
...and elsewhere. With P&H Foods, the Hubers
created Golden Valley Farms for poultry processing in
Arthur, Ontario, in 1989.
For the next generation of Hubers—Henry Jr., Willy Jr., Conrad, Robert, and
Gerhart—the philosophy and enthusiasms of Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Eddy have meant an
almost ceaseless quest for expansion. Staying in one spot in the market, the brothers taught
the five Huber boys, was a sure way to see business decline. By 1993, with Wilhelm’s son
Gerhart overseeing operations, the Hubers had purchased the prestigious private-label
Since the late-1950s, Wilhelm and Heinrich had been working diligently to make
specialty company Kretschmar, a Don Mills, Ontario-based organization with a history
sausages and meats and Eddy had been driving into Toronto selling every single piece of
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dating
back
to
1887.
Kretschmar
is
100%
owned
and
operated
by
the Huber family and employs 240 people as it develops and prepares products for
the premium Kretschmar brand and private labels for leading supermarket chains,
restaurants, fast-food establishments, and a wide range of food retailers. Calling itself
“private-label meat specialists,” Kretschmar sells its top-quality products throughout
North America and internationally.
1997 – Acknowledging 40 years
In 1993, Piller’s purchased Kretschmar, a Don Millsbased company and “Private Label Meat Specialist”.
The new century – continued pursuit of opportunities
The twenty-first century has seen a similar desire for forward movement
and progress from the next Huber generation. The company’s strategies have
gained them markets throughout Canada and the largest centres in the United
States where they include wholesale buyers, the largest chain retailers, and smaller
independent shops. The company, as now guided by the next generation has
learned the business from the three original brothers, and has developed special
opportunities in other regions in the U.S. and in the red-hot Pacific
In 1997, the Huber family and its hundreds of employees celebrated the company’s
Rim economies.
Remnants of the past: The pine tree in foreground is on
the site of the original Huber home. University
Avenue, in background, is under construction in the
1980s.
40th anniversary. It was not merely a marking of time since the last milestone; it was also
a recognition of just how deeply the firm was a part of the community in which it resided
In some ways, its has been the phenomenon of recent European
and an acknowledgement of how the goal of rebuilding the Huber name that Wilhelm had
immigration that has partially assisted elements of Piller’s success: the pattern of
set for himself had been realized. In his wildest dreams, Wilhelm still insists, he had never
people moving to new opportunity has repeated itself from the days when Konrad
imagined that the company would assume such impressive dimensions as it now boasted.
took the decision to move the Huber family to Canada. The evidence lies in the
The fact—and his humble nature—almost leaves him at a loss for words.
United States census of 2000 in which it is revealed that nearly
45 million American citizens claimed German ancestry with approximately
Now in business for 40 years, the Huber family built a
large distribution centre in North Waterloo.
Yet further expansions were on the horizon: the Hubers designed and built an
8 million speaking German as their mother-tongue.
immense 92,000-square-foot distribution centre on an 18-acre site on Frosbisher Drive in
north Waterloo’s densely packed and growing commercial and industrial park. As always,
Recognizing the significance of such numbers, the Hubers launched for
the Hubers recognize that the strength and dedication of their employees have had a major
their company a vigorous marketing campaign designed to reach that population
impact on Piller’s success at the 40-year mark.
in the summer of 2001. With an investment of just over $4 million, the company
targeted the United States with promotions and unique products designed to take
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advantage of this important demographic that existed in the large American supermarket
chains.
business oriented, Wilhelm and the other Hubers have satisfied a need to
started with Wilhelm. A piece of paper with auction information crossed his desk,
address the issues of their culture and background and that of many, many of
and after looking at it he tossed it in the waste bin not seeing anything of interest. About
their peers and contemporaries from eastern Europe—it is the culture of
10 minutes later, he found himself still thinking about the piece of paper and retrieved the
Wilhelm’s childhood and the Huber family gasthaus in Sidski Banovci.
facility might be lucrative for their snack food division and took it to
the management committee. After inspecting the facility and consulting with their
engineers and plant maintenance people, the Hubers made an offer and bought the plant.
During the financial negotiations, a Piller’s team worked with the architects and in less
than three hours had designed the inside of the plant to Piller’s specifications for producing
their growing line of snack foods.
Then, literally within hours of the deal going through, the contractors were
on-site and beginning demolition inside the plant. True to Piller’s form, when it comes to
growth, Piller’s Fine Foods in Brantford, as of January 2007, underwent further
state-of-the-art expansion to double its capacity making it the nation’s number one
producer of meat snack-foods. Among its other products, Piller’s “Turkey Bites,” produced
at the Brantford facility, would set a consumer and industry standard becoming the
nation’s top meat snack-food.
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Seeing to an area of concern that departs from that which is strictly
In 2005, the Hubers bought their Brantford facility—Piller’s Fine Foods—and it
cast-away note showing it to Willy Jr. Together, the two then decided that buying the
Home of “Turkey Bites”: In 2005, Piller’s bought an
existing plant and made extensive renovations creating
Piller’s Fine Foods.
Community Support and Dedication
In 2005, Wilhelm joined the steering committee and was involved in
fundraising for the Waterloo Centre for German Studies (WCGS) at the
University of Waterloo. The Centre, officially opened by University of
Waterloo President David Johnston, is a collaboration of leading citizens in
Waterloo Region’s Oktoberfest is the largest Bavarian
festival outside of Munich. Wilhelm and Eddy stand on
left.
Waterloo Region whom are possessed of the rich culture and heritage of the
German people.
Piller’s and the Hubers have also been long-time supporters of KitchenerWaterloo’s Oktoberfest, the world’s largest Bavarian festival outside of Munich.
Elsewhere, when it comes to the kids of the community, the Hubers are passionate
about supporting local minor sports, and they give generously
to hockey, soccer, and baseball teams. Their dedication goes deeper than
financial assistance—they are often in the stands cheering on the teams. The
company has dedicated a substantial sum to supporting the Grand River
Medical Centre. It is the kind of support of which the entire Huber family
79
is particularly proud. There is also a Huber Family Scholarship for Piller’s employees, as
The Next Generation Looks Forward
well as bursaries and scholarship funds at the local universities including the “Eddy Huber
Scholarship” at Wilfrid Laurier University.
On the occasion of half a century in business, Wilhelm marvels at the way Piller’s has
grown. “It’s just amazing. I still have a statement from our first year and when I compare that
to now, it’s just mind-boggling. I never expected that we would be this successful in our lifetime, but it only came through everybody’s input and help—my parents, my brothers and
their families. The Huber children were key because they stayed with us. They all grew up
together and have contributed to the success of this family business.” His family being
uprooted and stripped of its nationality in Yugoslavia in 1944 has inspired that success he
August 1985: Eddy, Heinrich and Wilhelm are
presented with a photo of the cover of Exchange
Magazine, on the occasion of Piller’s 30th Anniversary.
feels now in 2007. “It made it us a lot stronger. We were proud of our progress, looking back
on what we had accomplished on a yearly basis.”
Piller Sausages & Delicatessens Ltd. is not a small company. Through fifty years and
two generations, Piller’s has grown in each of those years. It has the highest of standards
that the family has set for themselves and their company: since 1957, there has been an
increase in sales in each and every year—a remarkable accomplishment for any company
let alone a business in such a competitive and fluid industry. Today, one out of every two
meat snacks eaten in Canada is made by Piller’s. As a national company, with strong
international recognition, Piller’s is a family business that remains solidly in the top five
producers in an industry where consolidation and mergers are frequent.
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As a full-line deli supplier, Piller’s is able to leverage the largest
other family members, he has lived and grown with Piller’s working the farmers’ market stand
companies in Canada and can supply its products anywhere in North
as a teenager and in the various sectors and operations of the business from the cutting room
America, and Kretschmar is currently the only completely dedicated
to shipping to the sales order desk and Huber Delicatessens.
private-label meat producing facility in Canada. Piller’s also makes the meat
component for numerous other food products: for instance, the sausage
component for a breakfast dish or the pepperoni for pizza or panzerotti as
well as supplying the largest quick-service restaurants. Throughout Canada,
where a majority of the company’s sales are made, and in the United States,
Piller’s has a network of food brokers and distributors.
A fleet of their trucks and many outside carriers bring
Piller’s products to stores across the continent.
Having started working at Piller’s at a relatively young age, his career in many ways
has replicated his father Heinrich’s and his uncles’ hands-on learning experiences: he was
given a territory in Toronto outlining a list of customers and told to get a map, find the
clients and make a route. Today, Hank oversees and drives corporate sales nationally and
internationally to ensure the growth of the company through the continued development
and expansion of a solid customer base. Both inside and outside the business, he has
These, however, are the hard, cold facts of business: people and family
observed over his history with the company and his father Heinrich’s instrumental role in
have an equally important role at Piller’s. Wilhelm’s youngest son, Gerhart,
its early success, that “the Hubers have been very fortunate because they have always been
sums it up: “We have some great people working for us, and they’re like a second
able to work together very well in a business that is set within a family culture.” The Hubers
family. That’s what we’ve grown our business on—family.”
work as a team in a supportive, family environment; he points out that this is a laudable
Henry Huber Jr. –
“The Hubers work together well in a family culture.”
Henry Huber Jr.
accomplishment that not many companies anywhere have achieved.
From a sales perspective, he estimates that the most significant change he has
experienced has been an evolution from selling products to primarily ethnic “mom and
Born in Montreal in 1951, Henry Huber Jr. is Piller’s Senior Vice
President Corporate Sales & Marketing, an arm of the business that is
divided into retail, food service, co-pack, private label business-to-business
pop” delicatessens in the region and in London, Hamilton, and Toronto to selling to
supermarket chains which absorbed the small delis that had been set up by these German,
Polish, and Hungarian immigrants.
production, and export divisions. For Hank, as he is referred to, 2007
represents his 35th year with the family business, and during that time, like the
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Piller’s, under the guidance of Hank and the other family members, has been
83
progressive in approaching retailers (including supermarkets who do not have
expulsion from Sidski Banovci, as Hank tells it, the Huber family was made stronger. Heinrich,
full-service deli counters) with new packaging and embracing new
he adds “was very much formed by his early experiences. Not that he talked about it very much,
technology which they take to the retailer as a new concept. They
but he did mention that at his young age, especially in the military in which he served as a young
are also able to take a retailer’s suggestions and have the capability and
man, starting at the age of 17, he learned discipline, cleanliness, and order.”
flexibility to work with their customers to improve and tweak products to
better suit their needs.
Part of the company’s overall success, Hank attributes to the fact that
family members have been able to gravitate to areas where their interests and
abilities lead them. His own personal success has relied to no little degree on
his supportive wife, Jayne Cummings. They have a son, Jakob Lorenz, who
Henry proudly showing a large display of Piller’s
products in a Toronto store, 1978.
expanding the Piller’s reach outside of Ontario, targeting especially Quebec, the
Maritimes, and western Canada, as well as developing their American export business.
Wilhelm Huber Jr. –
“We have started to grow on a different level.”
works under Hank as a territory manager in London. Samantha Jayne has
Willy Jr. was born in Braunau, Austria in 1954, but his childhood at the Wismer
graduated from Queen’s University and is training to be a teacher at
Street family home was much like his father’s childhood at the gasthaus in Sidski Banovci.
Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, while another son, Henry
It was a farm with fields and a barn with 10 to 15 head of cattle, a few pigs, and chickens.
James, is working toward a degree in business and economics at the
The kids played in the huge willow trees around the property and in the apple orchard;
University of Guelph.
they built forts and did things kids have always done. It was an idyllic childhood
What he strives to teach the next generation of Hubers is what he learned
from his father Heinrich, whom he describes as a simple and honest man who
stressed respecting others and having manners, seeing to the smallest details in
business, and developing a strong work ethic. Given the trials and tribulations of his
father, grandparents Konrad and Rosina, and the rest of the family in their
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On the horizon, Hank notes, the Huber family and its team is working toward
Wilhelm Huber Jr.
environment for the young Hubers. Willy Jr. recalls running around playing with his
brothers and cousins on the farm as a youngster much like his father had done in Sidski
Banovci. With the adults, Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Eddy, working so hard at the business,
the children played together on a regular basis.
As he got older, Willy would help his father with the tasks of the butcher. At a very
85
young age, he was immersed in the atmosphere and eventually the hands-on
them to others in the company who would be responsible for that process or operation. By
work
for
the time he was 25, Willy Jr. was a plant manager and had come to understand fully the
the truck to arrive from the market and go and help unload. In the evenings
concept of continued growth that is an important part of Piller’s. He was able to begin
and on weekends, or before and after church, Willy Jr. would go into
developing new products and new ideas, for instance, but always with the full Huber team
the plant with his father to check the smoke-houses. He would sit on large
and always under Wilhelm’s watchful eye.
of
the
Piller’s
business.
He
would
wait
drums of spice imported from Europe and watch as Wilhelm calculated
figures and worked with accounts. He and his brothers and cousins eventually
started working at the market on Saturdays when they were
old enough (and tall enough to see over the counter, more importantly),
and it was there that they began to learn the skills needed to serve customers
professionally and with efficiency—and where they started to gain an
The Huber family’s European recipes and the best
ingredients available, produce the Piller’s line of fine
ham products.
Growing into the business and learning all of its aspects over a couple of decades,
Willy Jr. became Chief Executive Officer in early 2000. As he continued upholding the
company’s philosophy of teamwork, he points out that Wilhelm was always there to groom
the staff and is always encouraging them to grow into the various components of the
Wilhelm and Willy Jr.: part of the team that leads
Piller’s today.
business. With Wilhelm as the big-picture thinker, according to Willy Jr., all the important
questions get asked. “Everything we’ve touched has worked out.”
appreciation for just how big the company was becoming.
The younger Wilhelm asserts that one manner in which the next generation of
The basic aspects of the business, Willy Jr. recounts, were always being
taught, but so too were the essential courtesies of respect for people and
honesty—the next generation has been handed down these expectations
established by Wilhelm, Heinrich, and Eddy.
Just as the apprenticeship model had taught Wilhelm all elements of
the butcher’s trade, so he made sure that knowledge was passed along. Willy
Jr. knew well Wilhelm’s expectations that his sons and their cousins—the
next leaders of the business—be able to perfect certain skills before teaching
86
Hubers evolved was as visionaries and entrepreneurs. “The Huber family,” Willy Jr. tells it,
“have started to grow on a different level. We’ve become negotiators. We were still handson, but with the business growing and changing, we’ve put on new hats. Piller’s has put
specialists in the right places and let them run. You can’t do it all yourself.”
Helping Willy Jr. has been his wife Marna Faubert (“Marnie”), a nurse and
healthcare provider by training, who has been there assisting Willy Jr. each step of the
Recognized by the business community,
Willy Jr. is featured in Exchange
Magazine, December 2001.
way—whether it is advising on business decisions or helping out with the administration
and fundraising of the “AAA” Midget Waterloo Wolves, one of Waterloo Minor Hockey’s
87
marquee teams, which they have embraced and supported.
Marnie has also been a key influence in raising their children, Nicole,
Dana, and Neil. Nicole, a high school teacher at Forest Heights Collegiate
Institute in the Waterloo Region District School Board, took her Master of
Education degree from Daemen College in Amherst, New York. Her
historiography of the Huber family from its earliest days in Yugoslavia and its
genealogy have been instrumental in the preparation of this oral history of
the Huber family. Marnie and Willy’s son Neil, is a successful film-maker and
producer in Toronto, having graduated from Oakville’s Sheridan College
Film and Media Studies program. (Dana, as noted below, is currently working
at Piller’s.)
Rob Huber, Vice President Corporate Marketing at
Piller’s, checks in on production as tall racks of salami
tower above him in one of the many salami drying
rooms in this recent photograph.
Conrad Huber –
“Giving the industry a different look at the Hubers.”
Piller’s nearly 30 years ago. He has worked in virtually all aspects of the business, a business
he has watched grow remarkably across the company’s many facilities. From 3:00 a.m.
risings on market mornings when he started in the spring of 1977 to tales
of listening as a teenager while his uncle Eddy charmed and chatted up a police
officer who caught him driving through a flashing train-crossing on his way late to the
market one morning, Conrad appreciates the complete history of the company, like
the other Hubers. In his portfolio, he has focussed on consolidating his purchasing among
the Piller’s plants over the last 10 to 12 years allowing him to buy in a more
cost-effective manner.
It is a testament to the respect that the Hubers command in their own industry that
Wilhelm Huber has in the past been on the Board of Directors of the important and
Conrad, who was President of the CMC in 2006 and is currently Past President. Conrad
has also served on the CMC executive for three years, has been a board member for nine
Corporate Purchasing and as such is responsible for the all-important raw
years, and a member of the technical committee for nearly 20 years—it is a significant
materials that are necessary for making Piller’s products. The philosophy that
achievement for a family-owned company the size of Piller’s that they have held prestigious
he has learned from his experience is that a company’s profit is made first with
positions in such an important organization.
the bottom line right from the start.” It is a simple but important formula,
Conrad Huber
powerful Canadian Meat Council (CMC). That tradition continues today with his son
Conrad Huber is Executive Vice President Corporate Affairs &
the supplies it buys: “if you do a bad job buying and it costs more, it affects
High tech inventory systems track Piller’s production.
Rigorous labelling and coding are important
requirements of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Born in 1958, Conrad recalls that there were 30 employees when he started with
Notes Conrad, “our membership in and leadership of the CMC puts us in a very
positive light with our colleagues in the industry. Our high profile has given them a
Conrad points out, as he seeks to find the best ingredients for Piller’s.
88
89
different look at Piller’s and the Huber family and how we operate.” To achieve such
overcame to get the company where it is today. It is something he never loses sight of: “My
an important office in the 87 year-old CMC, Piller’s has had to gain the respect of
father’s generation and what they went through cast a tall shadow which we live under.”
key players and industry leaders across North America, including politicians and
government agencies—something they have clearly done. Conrad, as a board member and
past CMC President, has been able to see that key changes have been made to the body’s
rules and regulations.
Conrad married Donna Millett, and his children Conrad Jr. and Rachel
(from a previous marriage) have both pursued careers on Vancouver Island. Conrad Jr.
is a refrigeration technician and Rachel graduates from Malaspina UniversityCollege in June 2007 from a hospitality program. She is an ambitious diver and
hopes to pursue that part of her career in the Caribbean. Conrad Jr. also dives and
is an avid skier.
Teamwork has helped make the Hubers successful. Now
a vice-president, Conrad, left, and Willy Sr. in the
main Piller’s Waterloo facility, 1982.
Robert Huber –
“My father’s generation cast a tall shadow.”
Graduating from Toronto’s York University with a B.A. in economics, Robert
returned to Waterloo and joined the company full-time in 1984 working a sales region in
the London and Kitchener area for about 10 years. At that point, in the mid-1990s, he
became a sales coordinator acting as a liaison between production and the sales force, a
position he held for five years. He was then promoted to his current position as Vice
President Corporate Marketing.
Marketing, media, the appearance of product labels, and the look of all signage:
Robert is responsible for the “face” of the company as it presents itself to consumers and
suppliers. However, over the decades he has spent with the company and its innumerable
changes, expansions, and growth, what Robert sees is something constant: “Our family is
Robert Huber
still here today. I remember working with my cousins and my brother from a
very early age and being involved and out here at the plant because our parents were
working. We’re still together after all the years. Whether we have ups and downs and
Born in Montreal in 1959, the same year that his father Heinrich came to Waterloo
Region, Robert Huber oversees and directs the corporate image of Piller’s. Like his older
disagreements or not, we persevere and work together. That’s something our parents
instilled in us, and they can be proud of that.”
brother Henry and his cousins, Robert cut his teeth in the business as a teenager assisting
90
Heinrich with the market-stand and the Huber deli stores. Robert describes his father as
From a marketing perspective, Robert is continually scanning the consumer landscape
“almost patient to a fault with us. He taught us as much as he could and always gave us
to find opportunities for new and existing Piller’s products to fit into the retail market—a
opportunities.” Robert expresses a deep respect for what Heinrich and his brothers
competitive market which itself continues to evolve with the emergence of private label
91
products. States Robert, “we are motivated in this retail and foodservice
the plant as a maintenance employee and moved through the entire operations of the
environment by finding new ways of working the Piller’s brand into the minds
business, even doing deliveries. “There has been,” notes Gerhart, “a huge change in the
of consumers.”
overall process of what goes on here. There is so much more automation that we have put
Robert married Leslie Fler who has been a firm supporter of his work at
the family business. His young children, Bailey (from Leslie’s previous
As Piller’s moves ahead, Gerhart will lead the company as it searches for new
that the opportunities that are part of the Huber family business will be there
technology that will further increase production—that search includes having the
for them should they decide to take that route. Appropriately enough, the
physical space for new technology. He also points out how a change in packaging can
opportunity that he will offer to his children is the same opportunity that he
mean an increase in sales. Part of the technology, therefore, focuses on attractive packaging
has expressed that his father Heinrich offered to him years ago.
that is convenient for the customer: zipper-style locking closures, re-sealable pouches, and
Since 2005, Gerhart Huber, who has a food sciences background
and is a quality-control technician by trade, is Piller’s Chief Operating Officer
and President of Kretschmar Ltd. responsible for plant operations,
productivity, and capital expenditures for all the company’s facilities.
The youngest of Wilhelm’s children and born in 1964, it falls to
Gerhart to oversee the purchase of new equipment for the company’s plants,
especially as it impacts the new products being created. He started working in
92
Technology has had a tremendous impact on our business.”
marriage) and Mia have yet to begin pursuing career paths, but Robert stresses
Gerhart Huber –
“There’s always something new happening.”
The Hubers have actively sought ways to introduce
customers to Piller’s products. Rob Huber, above,
prepares the company display for the Toronto Food
Festival, 1992.
into the production. Before, a lot was done by hand and was very labour-intensive.
re-sealable films (an important emerging European packaging-technology), are currently
what Piller’s is working on in serving its customers, who are interested in innovative new
Gerhart Huber
products more and more. In Gerhart’s experience, “there’s always something new
happening.”
He cites Wilhelm as “the reason the company has made it through any growth. We
couldn’t have done this well without him. He is up to speed on everything and
has embraced moving forward with new technology. He’s a huge supporter in that
way, yet as much as possible he urges us to keep that European taste and
quality alive.”
As he continues to meet and exceed the expectations of the industry and his position
93
at
Piller’s—as
do
all
of
this
generation
of
Hubers—
Gerhart is assisted and supported by his wife Jennifer Hendry. The
couple have two sons, Christian and Kurtis, who on occasion visit the
plant with their father on weekends, just as Gerhart and his brothers did with
Wilhelm.
Jakob Huber –
“There’s a tremendous family pride here.”
Now Piller’s Territory Manager for sales between west-London and
Windsor, Jakob Huber, Hank’s son, started out working in the Piller’s office
at the age of 14—like his father and uncles. He moved down to the plant
The youngest of Willy Sr.’s sons, Gerhart Huber is
Piller’s COA and President of Kretschmar Ltd. Above,
Gerhart checks product quality prior to packaging,
1997.
when he turned 16 and worked his way up to the sales position he now holds.
Jake is a graduate in economics from the University of Guelph and expresses
interest in continuing his career with the company: “I want to pay my dues
and work my way up,” he says.
Jake has in fact grown up with the business—it is a common theme
with the family and something he calls “a way of life. I remember when my
grandfather Heinrich retired, he would still come in to the plant to see how
things were going. There’s a tremendous family pride here where all
employees are seen as family too.” Each Huber generation, Jake recognizes,
Edward used to build the Piller’s success.
Dana Huber –
“Family distinguishes us from other companies.”
As Regulatory Affairs Technician, Dana Huber is responsible for fulfilling Piller’s
requirements regarding label registration for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as well
as for calculating the nutritional fact tables and for marketing purposes. She acknowledges
that she likes being able to spend time with her family; however, because her work is very
different from what the others do, she is not constantly in touch with them on a day-to-
Territory Manager Jake Huber is learning all aspects of
the Piller’s business, just as his father Henry and
grandfather Heinrich Huber did.
day basis.
With a B.A. in psychology and communications, Dana started part-time work with
Piller’s as a teenager. Today, she remains dedicated to staying with the company and has
made it her goal to learn as many different aspects of the business as possible. It is a
tradition, she recognizes, that has been handed down to her from her father and her
father’s father.
As for her grandfather Wilhelm, Dana has observed that “he’s the kind of person
you want to model yourself after. He has a lot of characteristics that people wish they could
emulate: an extremely strong work ethic and a dedication and caring for not
As Regulatory Affairs Technician, Dana Huber, Willy
Jr.’s daughter, is responsible for nutritional fact labels
and meeting label registration requirements for the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
only his own family but the families of his employees. Even as the company grows,
that’s still a strong part of what distinguishes us from other larger companies.”
carries with it the same pride and the hard work that Wilhelm, Heinrich, and
94
95
Continued Legacies – Toward 100 Years
time satisfied a primarily North American client base with North American tastes. As
Wilhelm observed 50 years ago, these other companies had few new luncheon-meat ideas
or fine salami, for instance, to offer to consumers.
Wilhelm Huber is an industry leader who has been instrumental in seeing Piller
Piller’s, however, brought to the industry family recipes that had been handed down
Sausages & Delicatessens Limited set a milestone at 50 years. It is a milestone that
from their home country, many of which were unique foods including knackwurst and fine
represents both a business and personal success that he has shared with his family at the
German and Hungarian salami (such as Szegedi) with a lengthy aging process. Notably, the
same time that he has relied on their support in order to achieve it. Perhaps the key aspect
Hubers were responsible for giving the name to one of the most prominent and widely
of support has come from Juliana, his wife of more than 50 years—50 years of successful
consumed meat products available today: black forest ham. Soon after they introduced
marriage and 50 years of success for Piller’s is no coincidence.
black forest ham, other companies were producing similar products—but Konrad and the
Wilhelm has made his own mark personally: Canadian Meat Council board
three Huber brothers had blazed the trail.
member, representative of a council to Agriculture Canada, memberships at the German-
The Hubers took European recipes and flavourings and developed them into their
Canadian Professional Association, Schwaben Club, German-Canadian Hunting and
own special signature products—which in turn became industry standards. Each year as it
Fishing Club, Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, executive committee member
grew, Piller’s was copied more and more; yet each year, Piller’s success grew greater and
with the City of Waterloo Safe Communities Program, and the Bethel Lutheran Church
greater as it was inspired to move ahead. With the company now embarking on a journey
of Kitchener. In November of 1996, he was acknowledged by the German-Canadian
into its second 50 years, Wilhelm is still impressed by the way Piller’s has grown—“it is
Congress in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the German-Canadian
unimaginable,” he repeats.
Wilhelm Huber
community in Canada.
It saddens him, though, that Heinrich and Eddy are not able to see the legacy of
96
His mark on the meat-packing industry has been considerable as well. When the
their impressive success having come so far from the days of the gasthaus in Sidski Banovci,
Hubers came to Waterloo Region, other meat-packers were already operating but they
through the bombings and fire-fights of the Second World War, and through the turmoil
were making basic bologna products, hot dogs, bacon, and smoked picnic ham that at that
of displacement in Hungary and Austria. But Wilhelm acknowledges with a sense of
97
“heimat”—homeland—that the present day as it stands now at Wismer Street represents
Huber Family Genealogy
the very best of the Huber family’s past. More importantly, his 74 years,
50 of which have been with Piller’s, have given him the confidence that the next generation
of Hubers are demonstrating the ability and dedication to proudly carry
1.
the family tradition into the future. e
Johann1 HUBER, b. 1781, in UNKNOWN, d. 27 Mar 1839, in Neu-Siwatz.
Married An Marie SCHLEFEINBEIN, d. 9 Aug 1843.
Children of Johann HUBER and An Marie SCHLEFEINBEIN:
2 i. Wilhelm HUBER, b. 22 Feb 1824, in Neu-Siwatz.
2.
Wilhelm2 HUBER (Johann1), b. 22 Feb 1824, in Neu-Siwatz.
Married Elisabetha JACOBI 23 Jul 1847, in Neu-Siwatz. She was the daughter of
Heinrich Peter JACOBI and Katharina STIENMETZ. Elisabetha JACOBI was b.
10 Feb 1832, in Neu-Siwatz.
Children of Wilhelm HUBER and Elisabetha JACOBI:
3 i. Jakob HUBER, b. 30 Mar 1849, in Neu-Siwatz.
3.
In 1950, Wilhelm asked Julianna’s father for
permission to “court” his daughter.
Jakob3 HUBER (Wilhelm2, Johann1), b. 30 Mar 1849, in Neu-Siwatz.
Married Eva ETZENHAUSER 1870, in Neu-Siwatz. She was the daughter
of Johan ETZENHAUSER and Julianna HUBER. Eva ETZENHAUSER was
b. 21 Jul 1850, in Neu-Siwatz.
Wilhelm and Julianna in 1986. In 2007, they
celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary.
Children of Jakob HUBER and Eva ETZENHAUSER:
4 i. Konrad HUBER, b. 30 Mar 1879, in Sch. Bauovci.
4.
98
Konrad4 HUBER (Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1), b. 30 Mar 1879, in Sch. Bauovci.
Married Margaretha SCHMOLL 29 Jul 1898, in Sch. Bauovci. She was the
daughter of Heinrich SCHMOLL and Susanna WINTERSTEIN. Margaretha
99
SCHMOLL was b. 2 Apr 1880, in Sch. Bauovci.
Children of Konrad HUBER and Margaretha SCHMOLL:
5 i. Konrad HUBER, b. 25 Jan 1902, in Sch. Bauovci.
5.
Konrad5 HUBER (Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1), b. 25 Jan 1902, in Sch.
Bauovci. Married Rosina HOFFMANN 30 Jan 1923. She was the daughter of
Adam HOFFMANN and Katharina JORDAN. Rosina HOFFMANN was
b. 23 Mar 1901, in Sch. Bauovci.
Children of Konrad HUBER and Rosina HOFFMANN:
i.
Katharina HUBER, b. 1924, in Sch. Bauovci
6 ii. Heinrich HUBER, b. 1926, in Sch. Bauovci and d. 21 Feb 2004, in Florida.
7 iii. Wilhelm HUBER, b. 21 Oct 1932, in Sch. Bauovci.
iv.
Eva HUBER
v.
Edward HUBER.
6.
Heinrich6 HUBER (Konrad5, Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1), d. 21 Feb 2004,
in Florida. bur. 26 Feb 2004, in Kitchener, Ontario. Married Katherine.
A teacher with the Waterloo Region District
School Board, Nicole Huber Price collected
the genealogical information of the Huber
family tree in “Where We Are From: The
Chronicles of the Huber Family.”
Children of Heinrich HUBER and Katherine:
8 i. Henry HUBER, b. 29 Oct 1951, in Montreal, Quebec.
9 ii. Robert HUBER, b. 30 Apr 1959 in Montreal, Quebec.
7.
Wilhelm6 HUBER (Konrad5, Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1), b. 21 Oct 1932,
in Sch. Bauovci. Married Juliana KOPP. She was the daughter of Daniel KOPP
and Katharina LAHR. Juliana KOPP was b. 2 Sep 1933, in Cervenko, Yugo.
Children of Wilhelm HUBER and Juliana KOPP:
Piller’s premium Black Kassel line is just one example of how the Huber family continues to create new products that combine time-honoured recipes and exceptional quality.
101
10 i. Wilhelm HUBER, b. 13 Jun 1954, in Braunau, Austria
11 ii. Conrad HUBER, b. 25 Jan 1958, in Kitchener, Ontario.
12 iii. Gerhart HUBER, b. 16 Sep 1964 in Kitchener, Ontario.
8.
Henry7 HUBER (Heinrich6, Konrad5, Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1),
b. 29 Oct 1951, in Montreal, Quebec. Married Norma Jayne CUMMINGS. She
was the daughter of Floyd Norman CUMMINGS and Marjorie Adele COOPER.
Norma Jayne CUMMINGS was b. 15 Mar 1955, in Hamilton, Ontario.
Children of Henry HUBER and Norma Jayne CUMMINGS:
Jakob Lorenz HUBER, b. 12 Aug 1980, in Kitchener, Ontario.
i.
Samantha Jayne HUBER, b. 5 Feb 1983, in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
iii. Henry James HUBER, b. 9 Jul 1987, in Kitchener, Ontario.
9.
102
11.
Wilhelm7 HUBER (Wilhelm6, Konrad5, Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1),
b. 13 Jun 1954. Married Marna Lynne FAUBERT 16 Jul 1977, in Kitchener,
Ontario. She was the daughter of Robert FAUBERT and Jean ROLLO. Marna
Lynne FAUBERT was b. 23 May 1952, in Sarnia, Ontario.
Conrad7 HUBER (Wilhelm6, Konrad5, Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1),
b. 25 Jan 1958, in Kitchener, Ontario. Married (1) Kelly. Married (2) Donna Lee
MILLETT 17 Sep 1994, in Midland, Ontario. Donna Lee MILLETT was b. 24
Apr 1960, in Toronto, Ontario. No Children.
Children of Conrad HUBER and Kelly:
Conrad HUBER, b. 8 Apr 1982 in Kitchener, Ontario.
i.
Rachel HUBER, b. 1 Dec 1983 in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
Robert7 HUBER (Heinrich6, Konrad5, Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1),
b. in Kitchener, Ontario. Married Leslie Anne FLER. Leslie Anne FLER was
b. 16 Dec 1963.
Children of Robert HUBER and Leslie Anne FLER:
Bailey Elizabeth SCHNARR, b. 23 Jul 1991. (Daughter of Leslie Anne
i.
from a previous marriage).
Mia Katherine HUBER, b. 22 Nov 1996, in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
10.
Children of Wilhelm HUBER and Marna Lynne FAUBERT:
Nicole Elise HUBER, b. 27 Jun 1979, in Kitchener, Ontario. Married
i.
Bradley William PRICE 13 Aug 2005, in Waterloo, Ontario. He was the
son of Richard PRICE and Linda YETMAN. Bradley William PRICE
was b. 5 May 1979, in Cambridge, Ontario.
Dana Juliana HUBER, b. 28 Jun 1981, in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
iii. Neil Wilhelm HUBER, b. 1 Oct 1984, in Kitchener, Ontario.
12.
Gerhart7 HUBER (Wilhelm6, Konrad5, Konrad4, Jakob3, Wilhelm2, Johann1),
b. 16 Sept 1964 in Kitchener, Ontario. Married Jennifer HENDRY,
b. 2 May 1964.
Children of Gerhart HUBER and Jennifer HENDRY:
Christian HUBER, b. 15 May 1992 in Kitchener, Ontario.
i.
Kurtis HUBER, b. 21 Mar 1995 in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
103
Kopp Family Genealogy
1.
104
4.
Johann2 KOPP (Johann1), b. 14 Jan 1875, in Cervenko, Yugo, d. 15 Oct 1941, in
Cervenko, Yugo. Married Eva WEBEL. Eva WEBEL was b. 7 Aug 1877, in
Cervenko, Yugo, d. 21 Feb 1951, in Harichhausen, Germany.
Children of Johann KOPP and Eva WEBEL:
3 i. Daniel KOPP, b. 24 Nov 1907, in Cervenko, Yugo, d. 19 Mar 1977
in Braunau.
3.
Children of Daniel KOPP and Katharina MERSCH:
Katharina KOPP, b. 4 Apr 1939, in Cervenko, Yugo.
i.
Johann KOPP, b. 25 Jan 1945, in Ach, Austria.
ii.
Johann1 KOPP, b. in Gervenka, Yugo. Married Elisabeth BRAUN. Elisabeth
BRAUN was b. in Cervenko, Yugo.
Children of Johann KOPP and Elisabeth BRAUN:
2 i. Johann KOPP, b. 14 Jan 1875, in Cervenko, Yugo, d. 15 Oct 1941,
in Gervenka, Yugo.
2.
Children of Daniel KOPP and Katharina LAHR:
Daniel KOPP, b. 29 May 1932, in Cervenko, Yugo.
i.
4 ii. Juliana KOPP, b. 2 Sep 1933, in Cervenko, Yugo.
Daniel3 KOPP (Johann2, Johann1), b. 24 Nov 1907, in Cervenko, Yugo,
d. 19 Mar 1977, in Braunau, bur. 22 Mar 1977, in Kochburg-Ach, Austria.
Married (1) Katharina LAHR 7 Apr 1932, in Cervenko, Yugo. She was the
daughter of Peter LAHR and Juliana ROTH. Katharina LAHR was b. 6 Jan 1908, in
Cervenko, Yugo, d. 19 Apr 1935, in Cervenko, Yugo, bur. 20 Apr 1935, in
Cervenko, Yugo. Married (2) Katharina MERSCH 17 Dec 1935, in Cervenko,
Yugo. Katharina MERSCH was b. 1 Feb 1912, in Cervenko,Yugo, d. 6 Jun 1994, in
Braunau, bur. 10 Jun 1994, in Kochburg-Ach, Austria.
Juliana4 KOPP (Daniel3, Johann2, Johann1), b. 2 Sep 1933, in Cervenko,Yugo.
Married Wilhelm HUBER. He was the son of Konrad HUBER and Rosina
HOFFMANN. Wilhelm HUBER was b. 21 Oct 1932, in Sch. Bauovci.
Children of Juliana KOPP and Wilhelm HUBER:
5 i. Wilhelm HUBER, b. 13 Jun 1954.
6 ii. Conrad HUBER, b. 25 Jan 1958, in Kitchener, Ontario.
7 iii. Gerhart HUBER, b. in Kitchener, Ontario.
5.
Wilhelm5 HUBER (Juliana KOPP4, Daniel3, Johann2, Johann1), b. 13 Jun 1954.
Married Marna Lynne FAUBERT 16 Jul 1977, in Kitchener, Ontario. She was the
daughter of Robert FAUBERT and Jean ROLLO. Marna Lynne FAUBERT was b.
23 May 1952, in Sarnia, Ontario.
Children of Wilhelm HUBER and Marna Lynne FAUBERT:
Nicole Elise HUBER, b. 27 Jun 1979, in Kitchener, Ontario. Married
i.
Bradley William PRICE 13 Aug 2005, in Waterloo, Ontario. He was the
son of Richard PRICE and Linda YETMAN. Bradley William PRICE
was b. 5 May 1979, in Cambridge, Ontario.
Dana Juliana HUBER, b. 28 Jun 1981, in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
105
iii.
6.
Neil Wilhelm HUBER, b. 1 Oct 1984, in Kitchener, Ontario.
Conrad5 HUBER (Juliana KOPP4, Daniel3, Johann2, Johann1), b. 25 Jan 1958,
in Kitchener, Ontario. Married (1) Kelly. Married (2) Donna Lee MILLETT
17 Sep 1994, in Midland, Ontario. Donna Lee MILLETT was b. 24 Apr 1960, in
Toronto, Ontario. No children.
Children of Conrad HUBER and Kelly:
Conrad HUBER, b. 8 Apr 1982 in Kitchener, Ontario.
i.
Rachel HUBER, b. 1 Dec 1983 in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
7.
Index of Names
COOPER
Marjorie Adele (8 Mar 1923 - )
CUMMINGS
Floyd Norman (8 Sep 1924 - 1 Jul 1999)
Norma Jayne (15 Mar 1955 - )
ETZENHAUSER
Gerhart HUBER (Juliana KOPP , Daniel , Johann , Johann ), b. 16 Sept 1964
in Kitchener,Ontario. Married Jennifer HENDRY, b. 2 May 1964.
5
4
3
2
1
Children of Gerhart HUBER and Jennifer HENDRY:
Christian HUBER, b. 15 May 1992 in Kitchener, Ontario.
i.
Kurtis HUBER, b. 21 Mar 1995 in Kitchener, Ontario.
ii.
Eva (21 Jul 1850 - )
Johan
FAUBERT
Marna Lynne (23 May 1952 - )
Robert
FLER
Leslie Anne (16 Dec 1963 - )
HENDRY
Jennifer (2 May 1964 - )
HOFFMANN
Adam (5 Apr 1874 - )
Rosina (23 Mar 1901 - )
106
107
HUBER
Christian (15 May 1992 - )
Conrad (25 Jan 1958 - )
Conrad ( 8 Apr 1982 - )
Dana Juliana (28 Jun 1981 - )
Edward
Gerhart (16 Sept 1964 - )
Heinrich (1926 - 21 Feb 2004)
Henry (29 Oct 1951 - )
Henry James (9 Jul 1987 - )
Jakob (30 Mar 1849 - )
Jakob Lorenz (12 Aug 1980 - )
Johann (1781 - 27 Mar 1839)
Julianna
Konrad (25 Jan 1902 - )
Konrad (30 Mar 1879 - )
Kurtis (21 Mar 1995 - )
Mia Katherine (22 Nov 1996 - )
Neil Wilhelm (1 Oct 1984 - )
Nicole Elise (27 Jun 1979 - )
Rachel (1 Dec 1983 - )
Robert (30 Apr 1959 - )
Samantha Jayne (5 Feb 1983 - )
Wilhelm (21 Oct 1932 - )
Wilhelm (13 Jun 1954 - )
Wilhelm (22 Feb 1824 - )
JACOBI
Elisabetha (10 Feb 1832 - )
Heinrich Peter (12 Jan 1799 - )
JORDAN
Katharina (26 May 1876 - )
KOPP
Daniel (24 Nov 1907 - 19 Mar 1977)
Juliana (2 Sep 1933 - )
LAHR
Katharina (6 Jan 1908 - 19 Apr 1935)
MILLETT
Donna Lee (24 Apr 1960 - )
PRICE
Bradley William (5 May 1979- )
Richard Francis
ROLLO
Jean
108
109
SCHLEFEINBEIN
An Marie ( - 9 Aug 1843)
SCHMOLL
Heinrich (16 Mar 1854 - )
Margaretha (2 Apr 1880 - )
SCHNARR
Bailey Elizabeth (23 Jul 1991 - )
STIENMETZ
Heinrich
Katharina
WEIDENBACH
Katharina
WINTERSTEIN
Susanna (10 May 1851 - )
YETMAN
Linda
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Works Cited
Budd, Jessica. “The Ethnic Cleansing of Danube Swabians During World War II,” 2001.
Huber Price, Nicole. “Where We Are From: The Chronicles of the Huber Family,” 2005.
Judt, Tony. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. New York: Penguin Books, 2005.
Schidski Banovci: Geschichte einer deutschen Tochtersiedlung in Syrmien, 1986
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