With great sadness we announce the loss of our Father, Opa and Friend, Gottfried Lorenz Grosser. Gottfried passed away peacefully, surrounded by his loved ones on November 4th, 2021 at the age of 74. Predeceased by his son, Geoffrey Grosser and brother, Hugo Lohr; He is survived by daughter’s, Lorelei Arteaga, Pamela Corrigal and Ursula Abraham, sister Sophie Königbauer, brothers Siegfried Lohr and Eduard Lohr, and grandchildren.
Gottfried was born on January 5th, 1947 in Frontenhausen, Germany. Raised by his beloved mom Sophie, who he lost at a young age. He began training as an apprentice baker, and in 1965 at the age of 18 followed two of his older brothers to Canada.
Gottfried carved out a long career as a baker, never retiring in fact, including running his own bakeries in Abbotsford and North Vancouver and supplying treats to a local coffee shop. Through many years of raising a family and running a business, Gottfried found his passions mostly in the outdoors and became an avid runner, an aspiring winemaker, expert keeper of cacti, and a great lover of Schnauzers.
Gottfried was a determined, stubborn, and hard-working individual competing in marathons, ultra marathons, and Ironman triathlons. Inspired by the mountains, Gottfried spent many years racing and volunteering in trail races where he truly found his community. Gottfried´s passion for exploring, getting lost, and wanting to introduce people to off the beaten path locations led him to directing his own trail races on the Sea to Sky corridor and in Manning Park, always with his faithful companion Benny the Trail Whisperer close by. Gottfried, Benny, and in the later years Louie, took to the trails every day from their home in Deep Cove. His passion for being out on the trail and his annual events inspired many people to take on these challenging distances, even when his lung condition made it difficult.
Gottfried was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis twelve years ago and spent the last decade of his life beating the odds. Shortly after hosting his last Frosty Mountain Ultra, Gottfried’s condition finally caught up to him, taking him away from his family and friends suddenly and too soon.
Gottfried made a lasting impact on his family, friends, and community and will truly be missed by all.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday November 21st 12:00 at Backstage Café 101-4601 Canada Way, Burnaby BC.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the BC Schizophrenia Society https://www.gifttool.com/donations/Donate?ID=2001&AID=5555 or to the SPCA https://spca.bc.ca/donations/make-a-donation/.