Contributions to the tribute of Werner Stavenhagen

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Rick Sanderson posted a condolence

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

Herr Stavenhagen was my German teacher at Shenendahowa, I think of him so often it’s hard to explain. He was such an influence on me. Not only was German interesting to me, I ended up getting a degree and doing a history thesis on US history WWII and post WWII. The stories he told us about being a teen going to the German army, I think manning an antiaircraft gun. If memory serves, he said his Co told all the boys to go home, that the war was over. He said as he walked to his family home he passed a factory with an unexploded bomb near the street where he walked. The next day the bomb had gone off and he said he felt the Lord had protected him from the moment he entered the army to that day when we walked casually next to a bomb. He was such a nice man, gentle as a teacher and he told funny stories that just fascinated me. As I sit and read Ambrose’s Citizen Soldiers, it came to me to look him up. Sadly, I missed the chance to tell him how much he meant to me, and how he even affected my college degree choice. At least partly, he gave me a life time of love of history. I hope his family takes some solace in my leaving my own memory, even several year after he left us. God bless, Werner Stavenhagen.

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Werner Stavenhagen

1928 - 2023

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Werner Stavenhagen

1928 - 2023

Obituaries & Tributes

Funeral Merchandise

Contact Us

Home | About Us | Funeral Planning | Funeral Merchandise | Pre-Planning | Resources | Obituaries

9 Lincoln Avenue | Cortland, New York | 13045Phone: (607) 756-2885 | Fax: (607) 756-6240 | Email: wrightbeardfh@gmail.com

9 Lincoln Avenue | Cortland, New York | 13045
Phone: (607) 756-2885 | Fax: (607) 756-6240 | Email: wrightbeardfh@gmail.com