Peter Vogt's tribute to his Brother
Erich Vogt --> Personal Memories of Erich Vogt --> here
It is hard to follow a wonderful talk like the one just given by David. I will try my best.
Erich was a giant in my mind, bigger than life! I never really knew him as a child as he was already entering college when I was starting my elementary school. I was 11 years old when we visited Erich and Barbara in Princeton and realized that he was working with very important people. The war just ended seven years before that and even as a child I was aware of the importance of atomic energy. It had in fact ended the Second World War. Now my brother was trying to use atomic energy in more humanitarian pursuits. We drove by Dr. Einstein’s home and saw Dr. Einstein out on his yard and he waved at my brother. You can only imagine how impressive that was to a young boy.
At age 15, I visited Erich and Barbara in Deep River, Ontario. When I arrived late in the evening, Erich woke up all of his three children at that time and herded them down the staircase with sleepy eyes and all wearing their pajamas so they could meet "Uncle Peter." Needless to say, Barbara was not happy about the interruption of their sleep and she let him know that. Barbara could be very firm with Erich, because she needed to be. While I was on that visit at the age of 15, I did note Erich’s deep love for Barbara and his children. He took every chance possible to take them on nature-walks, teach them about the wonders of the world, and of the benefits of physical pursuits versus sitting at home and watching television.
Visiting Erich and his family in Vancouver was always such a joy. He treated us well and would always share new adventures with us, such as hiking, exploring, and seeing the wonders of his world. This included trips to his TRIUMF project. Again, Erich was such a giant in my mind. I was standing in the foyer of his home when he was leaving to meet Prime Minister Trudeau to take him on a tour of a power plant or the TRIUMF project. It was a warm summer day and he was leaving wearing cut-off shorts that had a torn pocket at the back, a tee shirt, and flip-flop shoes. Barbara intercepted him at the door, took him by the tee shirt, and said, "Erich Vogt, where are you going dressed like that!!! You are not going to see the Prime Minister of Canada dressed like that!" Erich’s reply was "Barbara, the Prime Minister is not coming to see how I am dressed, he is coming to see what I know!" I am sure all of you in the audience will realize who won that argument. Erich went upstairs, changed into proper clothes, and then left to meet the Prime Minister for his tour.
Erich always felt that I had aimed low in my pursuit of a medical degree. He couldn’t stand anyone that wasn’t aiming for a PhD. This is further reinforced by the fact that one of the requirements of my pre-med education was to take Physics 101. I took the course and proceeded to fail it. As luck would have it, I was walking down the campus of the University of Manitoba that summer with Erich when we happened upon Dr. Kelly who had taught both of us Physics 101. Dr. Kelly took one look at Erich and a close look at me and exclaimed, "This is a biological impossibility!" Erich got the greatest joy out of that and you can imagine how I felt.
It took about 40 years for me to get a small amount of revenge. It happened at the reception following Barbara’s memorial service when we were at the home of Lisa and her husband, Chris. Erich was sitting on the couch wearing a blue blazer, a tie, and his gray slacks, and it was evident what he had been eating as a good portion of it was on the front of his jacket and tie, as it frequently would happen. I think we would all agree that Erich didn’t pay much attention to his attire most of the time. I was standing visiting with the wife of one of Erich’s colleagues and she asked me what my relationship was to Erich. I was wearing an Armani suit with a nice tie and always have tried to dress up to the expectations of my profession as a plastic surgeon. She called Erich to his feet and he came standing next to us and she said, "Are you indeed Peter’s brother?" He said "yes" and she said, "This is a biological impossibility!"
Numbers were always so important to Erich. All of us had to listen to the number of pies that he had baked; the number of tomatoes that he had produced in his garden; the number of fruitcakes that he had baked and sent at Christmas time. I would like to make a confession today that I was the annual recipient of one of Erich’s 6" x 6" fruit pies. Years ago I took one of these fruit pies and placed it in the bottom of a floral arrangement and set it at the door of two gay friends of ours who were having an annual Christmas party. I didn’t realize that even though I snuck up to their door that they had seen me. One year later at the same party, one of the men who was an artist had taken the fruitcake and had developed a beautiful Lucite case with a Lucite stand inside that bore the fruitcake with a brass placard that stated, "Fruitcake." Of course, this created an uproar at the party and everybody had a good laugh about it. My wife and I took it home and my wife being the interior designer that she was, took it to her studio and had the Lucite case electrified and made a lamp out of it with a very large, black shade over the top of the Lucite case. We then presented this to our gay couple at the next annual party. Not to be outdone, the artist friend made the lamp into a torchiere lamp that is approximately 5' high and still sits in his home to this day. This created such a stir that this exchange of Erich's fruitcake actually had a story written about it that appeared in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine. I never had the courage to reveal this story to my brother.
Our first brother died on March 31, 1997. It was a sad and untimely death. At the reception in the church basement following the funeral, Erich called over to me, "Well Peter, one down, five to go!" Again, numbers were so important to Erich throughout his life.
Following our brother’s death, Erich and I began to connect as adults. Erich had a twin brother, Art, who was physically and mentally challenged and required care. Along with the considerable care of the Winnipeg family, we were able to help financially and also, to a lesser degree, physically to care for Art for the remainder of his life.
His love for his brothers was extended further when he received a knock on his door from a younger brother who had dealt with drug addiction all of his life. Erich not only took him in and helped him financially but offered him the lower level of his home for the remainder of his life. As our younger brother went through one-after-another health problem, Erich would visit him in the hospital virtually every day. He would remind me on our weekly calls of the number of times that he had driven down to Vancouver General Hospital to visit John. This was after he had stopped his teaching assignments at the University of British Columbia and I think to some degree this gave him a feeling of relevance. It certainly gave us all a feeling of his continued relevance.
Erich had an incredible amount of energy, stamina, interest, and wonder of the world around him. He would visit his family members in the State of Washington, Ontario, Minnesota, and would travel to all parts of the world to visit colleagues and friends that he had nurtured over the years. We talked every week for years. He seemed to have accepted my mediocrity of only having achieved an M.D. level of training. Also, after our conversations had ended, he would often slip and say, "Peter, I love you!"
Erich indeed led a relevant and a fortunate life. He chose a wonderful mate, had five wonderful robust children and their mates, and sixteen grandchildren, all of whom he loved tremendously. In the last few years of life, he worked hard to write a genealogical history for the benefit of all of his children. This was a massive work, but one that he appeared to enjoy immensely. He also tried to write to the end, a brief history of TRIUMF as he understood it. He also had a magnificent career and, like I, never felt that he had to work.
To some, Erich was an acquired taste, but to me he was a loving brother, a generous friend, and someone who made a difference.
Erich, since you were so intrigued by numbers, it is now five down and one to go. Also, since you were so competitive and wanted to live longer than our Father, you may feel you lost. I know you are listening and what I want you to hear is "I lost; I lost a brother who I loved and admired and whose memory I will cherish for the rest of my life."
Thank you.
