Duschenes, Rolf, 1918-2014

Rolf Duschenes was a prominent Canadian architect born in Hamburg, Germany of Austrian and German parents. He left Germany in 1937 and spent two years living in Prague, Switzerland and England before being accepted by Canada as a refugee and "enemy alien" and interned from 1940 to 1942. He was privately sponsored to leave the internment camp at Sherbrooke, Quebec to study architecture at McGill University. He joined Ross & MacDonald Architects in Montreal . In 1948 he firm sent him to St. John New Brunswick to work on a project and he liked the city so much he moved there and opened a branch of the Montreal firm.

He became a partner at the firm (renamed Duschenes, Fish & Stars) in 1959, a number of his designs won prizes, and he was eventually made president of the Architectural Association of New Brunswick and a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC). In 1983, he was awarded the Order of Canada for his achievements a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC).

Rolf supplemented his work in housing design with involvement in community and provincial affairs. He was a founding member of the Saint John Symphony; President of the Symphony and of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra; and was a friend and patron of many local artists. He was also a Board Member of the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum. Rolf received the Order of Canada (1983) and Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002). and the Order of New Brunswick.

Rolf died in St. John, New Brunswick, in 2014. He and his wife had 5 daughters. 6 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.