John Bock at a PHSC fair
Toronto. I received a sad note today from Hans Bock to tell us his father had passed away last month. John first joined the PHSC in 1987 and has been a perennial table holder at our fairs. I will miss the brief chats we had about Zeiss, Exakta, and the other German cameras he enjoyed. John often had miniature CCD cameras as well from his business north-west of the city, a few of which ended up in my house.
His son Hans writes, “Hi Sonja [our Newsletter editor] and those at the PHSC,
“I just wanted to inform you of the passing of John Bock last month. It was an unexpected death leaving both his wife, Ingrid, myself and the extended family. We’ve been sorting out much since his passing and unfortunately not able to send this earlier.”
Hans continues, “It’s with sadness that we note the passing of John Bock this past September. John was a long time PHSC member and avid collector of German cameras from Zeiss, Voightlander and others.
“Having been a press photographer in Germany during his twenties, John seeked out the adventures of immigrating to Canada and starting a new life. Over the years John remained active in the photographic industry working for Eddie Blacks, running his own camera repair shop in downtown Toronto and then working for Carl Zeiss Canada for over twenty years.
“In the mid-eighties, John stepped out into a different field of industrial video imaging when CCD sensors were just coming to market. Even with this new venture, John never stopped collecting, trading and repairing classic cameras for others. His knowledge and passion for photography and German cameras was clearly evident in his interactions with other collectors.”
