December 18, 1919 – June 11, 2000
A Brief Biography
by Michael Steele
Engineer and artist, teacher and inventor, the late Heinz Lange was a native of Eisleben, in central Germany. His father was German, his mother, Polish.
Heinz Lange was an engineering and art student before the Second World War; a Luftwaffe (German Air Force) pilot during the war, and a member of one of Gen. Eisenhower’s counter-intelligence agencies, observing the Russians, after the war.
The first Canadian stop for Heinz and his first wife and two daughters was Windsor, Ont. There, he worked in the automotive industry as a design engineer. After a divorce he moved to Kitimat, British Columbia and became part of the engineering team that built the aluminum smelter.
While in Vancouver on a holiday, he met and married Lydia Hienrichs. He decided to leave Kitimat because he thought it no place in which to raise a young family at that time and decided to attend university. He wanted to share his knowledge and put his engineering skills to better use and become an industrial arts teacher.
Heinz Lange never lost his passion for painting and supported his family while attending the University of B.C., as an art teacher, working from his home in Surrey. He had many shows on the mainland during that time.
After he graduated from UBC with honours the family moved to various locations in British Columbia for his teaching assignments, including Hazelton, McBride and Prince Rupert, finally ending up in Merritt. He was made a “Chief of Honour” by the Kispiox people and was given a personal totem and signet ring.
He had a deep respect and admiration for the “First Nations People” and spent a great deal of time with many tribes in all of his travels throughout B.C.
His wife Lydia was a relative of the Nicola Valley Sterlings and, therefore, of William Henry Voght, the “Father of Merritt.” She has a family photograph of Mr. Voght before he came to the valley.”
Heinz Lange taught industrial arts in Merritt Senior Secondary for many years until his health gave out.
He was involved locally in the Rod and Gun Club, Rotary, and the Masons.
He was also an avid inventor and a fierce conservationist, and he was a bit eccentric in his ways, with a passion for art and life. ”
I think that a six-month tour of China as a guest of the Chinese government was one of father’s “amazing accomplishments.”
They asked him to talk about alternate energy sources and of course his ‘wild wind onion’. He spoke at many universities and trade schools in China. It was, I believe, his last major achievement. My father loved life.
His wish as a teacher and for Merritt was to inspire his students to think ‘outside of the box,’ protect the environment and pass on knowledge. He encouraged free thinking and he encouraged people to become more than they are.
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