In memory of
Rolf Rheinschmidt
June 2, 1937 - Nov. 15 2023

It is with great sadness that our family needs to share with you that Rolf Rheinschmidt, 86 years old, passed away on November 15, 2023, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, after a long illness. His wife and sons were with him.

Rolf was born and raised in the town of Riegel, Germany, to his parents Karl and Johanna Rheinschmidt.

Rolf’s life was too full to even try to tell his whole story of his world travels, life experiences and adventures, while living, traveling and working around the world. Only he could tell these stories in a way that made his life more meaningful, and full of life’s lessons. Rolf shared his experiences throughout his very busy and productive life. He started his trade, working with food, as a butcher’s apprentice, at the young age of 13. Then with the help of his grandfather, knowing that being a butcher was not what Rolf really wanted to do. Rolf’s grandfather did get him transferred to work as an apprentice, to work and learn from chefs, in the art of cooking and serving food, when he was just 14 years old.

After 3 years, he completed his apprenticeship at 17 years old and continued to work and learn as a chef in restaurants in Germany, until his cousin filled out an application for him, to work at a resort in Canada. He got the job at around 20 years old and soon he and a close friend, another young chef, immigrated to Canada. They boarded a Greek liner, a ship called The Arcadia, to cross the ocean to the Port of Montreal, on the Eastern coast of Canada. Then they took a train across Canada, to Victoria, BC. When the head chef, their new boss, picked them up at the train station, to drive them to their new job, at a resort restaurant, He soon found out, that Rolf did not speak English.

Then his new boss gave Rolf one week to learn the language, or he would send him right back to Germany. Rolf was determined to stay, so worked hard and learned as much English as he needed, to know the menu and keep his job as a chef and stay in Canada. After a short time, Rolf telling his story, describing just how cold it was, that they worked and saved enough money, to immigrate to the United States. Soon they were working as chefs in New York, until they saved enough money to move down to warm, sunny Florida, where he finally loved the climate and again working and learning from great chefs along their way.

After working in sunny Florida awhile, they decided to drive across the United States to San Francisco, where some friends they met and worked with in Canada, now worked.

Rolf worked as a chef in San Francisco, until he got a Job on the American owned, first class only, Luxury World Cruise liner, the SS Roosevelt, where he started as a Sous Chef (assistant) to the Executive Chef on that ship. He accomplished all this by the time he was 24 years old. In no time, he was to become one of the youngest Executive Chefs on a World Cruise ship. At just 25 years old he was creating menus and exotic ways to serve food as well as ordering and supplying all the food, ingredients and supplies from around the world. As Executive Chef he oversaw the food preparations, of over 60 cooks and bakers. He did this for 6 years, serving over 4 meals a day for 90 days, creating a different menu every day, for these World cruises. Stopping at 28 ports around the world, on each 3 month cruise. Rolf made sure to learn the art of cooking and serving exotic dishes from all the countries they visited while working on the ship, by making sure to personally get off at every port, to find the best restaurants and the most experienced chefs, to learn and prepare the native menus and buy the best, fresh ingredients along their way.

He circled the world at least 20 times during his 6 years working on the SS Roosevelt. After he came back from working on the ship, He decided to return to Germany with his brother Martin, and Martin’s wife Donna. Martin had immigrated to the United States and had also worked in Restaurants in the San Francisco area, before and during Rolf’s time, working on the SS Roosevelt. Martin met his wife, Donna, during this time. When Rolf came back to San Francisco, they all decided to move back to Germany, where Rolf helped his 2 brothers and their wives, start a restaurant. After That was a success, Rolf missed and decided to move back to the San Francisco area and worked as an executive chef at The Jack Tar Hotel and the Olympic club. During this time, he met and married his first wife, Monique, Aug 8, 1972. Their first son, Stefan, was born in 1973. When Stefan was still a baby, Rolf and his new family moved to Switzerland, to be near Monique’s family, where Rolf ran a small restaurant, then Gerry was born in 1975, in Switzerland.

When Gerry was just an infant, they decided to move back to San Francisco Bay area where Rolf continued working as an executive chef, at the Olympic Club until he decided to move to Santa Rosa, where he opened a restaurant called The Black Forest Inn. He sold that restaurant and their home around 1982, After they decided to move to Northern California, north of Orick. They bought a small motel on Highway 101 and soon Rolf decided to change a room into a small café, called Rolf’s Park Café in 1983. His intent was to serve their motel customers, but with word of mouth, and stories about Rolf’s great food, Rolf’s Park Café, soon grew and they were serving travelers, that came from all over the world. During this time, early 90’s, He bought a restaurant at the Arcata Airport, called the Silver Lining, after remodeling and making it a success, he sold it, and continued Running his Rolf’s Park Café.

Rolf’s wife, Monique died in 1992. Soon his boys were out of high school and went to Germany, near their Uncle Martin, to go to restaurant and hotel management school. They were gone 3 years, then came back around 1995 and helped their father, run and expand, Rolfs Park Café, father and sons.

Rolf married his current wife, JoEmma, on January 12, 2000, while continuing to work in his café until 2004 when they closed and he retired.

Rolf was so much more than just a great chef, and these were but a few of the lifetime of accomplishments, with so many awards, celebrations and recognition of the many experiences and proud moments of his life. After he retired, he was always busy, doing all the things he loved, hunting and fishing with his sons, spending time with his wife and working on his many ideas and projects in their home, wanting that Old World feeling. He would always enjoy working in his many gardens, especially in Willow Creek, where he could enjoy the nice warm sun. He also loved to go on long rides to explore all the beautiful places around Northern California or hanging out with his grandchildren, telling stories and teaching some to cook, or getting them to taste different foods, at least just once, or sharing his many stories and life lessons.

His proudest and best accomplishments, I know, were his 2 sons, Stefan and Gerry, as well as his life traveling and working around the world.

Rolf’s light will always shine Bright to those who knew and loved him.

He is survived by his wife, JoEmma Eanni, of almost 24 years.

His Son Stefan Rheinschmidt, Stefan’s two children, Rolf’s Grandchildren, Shoni and Cody.

His son Gerry Rheinschmidt, and Gerry’s two children, Rolf’s Grandchildren, Michelle and Alexander.

He is also survived by his children by marriage, Nancy Boyd, and her 4 boys, who called him grandpa, Nicholas, Elijah, Jaxon, and Bo. Kenny Boyd, and his children, Mariah, Logan and Karli. Sheanna Eanni-Hess and her children Sophia and Arthur, who also called him Grandpa.

And his Great Grandchildren, Nancy’s oldest son, Nicholas’s children, Hazel Mae and Elijah.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Karl and Johanna Rheinschmidt, his wife, and mother of his 2 sons, Monique Rheinschmidt, his brother Peter Rheinschmidt, his brother Martin Rheinschmidt, and Martin’s wife, Donna.

There will be a celebration of Rolf’s life, soon, with his close family, sharing all our memories, stories and what we know of the stories he shared, of his many adventures from around the World. All this and so much more, that did make him known, as a World-Famous Chef.

If you want to remember Rolf, maybe, you could plant a tree or several trees, especially since so much of California’s Beautiful Forest, have been destroyed by Wild? Fires. Or think of Rolf, when you plant a garden, flowers, or anything green, that Grows native to your area. We will Always remember Rolf, because of all those trees, fruit trees and Gardens, he planted throughout the years, not just in his own yard. Rolf shared So many fruit trees, and the fruit, we still enjoy. Please think of him, if you just plant Your Own Garden, for your own food, knowing there will always be more to share… He always shared. Rolf continued planting gardens, full of his favorite vegetables knowing the bears, deer, squirrels, raccoons or other wild creatures, will eat most of it. Then he would do it all over again the next year, with no added high fences, or barriers, he would say, its OK, the Deer need to eat too and yes, there would always be a little left over for family, friends and neighbors.

Remember to help a friend, or stranger in need, with no second thoughts or fanfare, just between you and your God, your higher spirit with no regrets.

If love could have saved Rolf, he would have lived forever and he tried very hard.

May God bless him always.

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“I don’t know of any expedition that ever went looking for the ark and didn’t find it.”

— Paul Zimansky, professor of archeology, Stony Brook University

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In a book of weird tales — and the Bible is nothing if not a veritable cornucopia of very weird tales — the weirdest of all is the story of Noah’s ark. Forget that sexless birth thing, or Satan and God playing dice for Job’s soul, or raising of the dead, or the sun standing still in the sky. They’re all business-as-usual compared to Noah and his ark, for one simple reason: It begins with God — all-knowing, all-powerful, all-everything — saying, “I fucked up.”

Here He is, just ten generations in, having gotten the whole ball of wax rolling back in the Garden of Eden, realizing that it was all a mistake. His glorious creation, mankind, had morphed in no time at all into a mess of sinful ingrates. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth…and the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.” Not just folks, either. Apparently the fruit of His other creations were similarly evil: “…both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”

(I’m quoting from the King James Version because I went to school in England where Catholicism-lite, aka Church of England, wouldn’t have been seen dead with the Vulgate or any of those new-fangled translations.)

It takes a big man, and an even bigger God, to admit a mistake, but that’s the bottom line: I fucked up and you’re going to pay for it. All of you, men, women and babies, birds and fish, cats and dogs. And just killing you off quickly is too good for you, so a hard rain’s a-gonna fall and you’re gonna drown.

All except Noah, he’s cool, he’s 600 years old, after all. His family, too. (It doesn’t say if they also “found grace in the eyes of the LORD,” so best give them the benefit of the doubt.)

Sure enough, the rains came. “… all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” Everyone and everything drowned, other than Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives, who emerged safe and sound after the ark grounded on Mount Ararat. Not much of a gene pool there, but it was even worse for the animals — they had to start over, once things got going again, with just one of each sex. (Don’t get me started about the dangers of incest.)

They survived because they were in an ark, of course, 300 x 50 x 30 if you were measuring in cubits. Along with two each of elephants and hippos and lions and camels and etcetera. And their feed, and their poop. No hanky-panky while they were in the ark, of course. (The Gnostic Hippolytus of Rome, who died in 235, explained that male and female animals were separated by sharp stakes.)

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What’s interesting, given that the various ark stories were written down are hundreds of years apart, is the similarity of the deck areas. Noah’s ark, at 15,000 square cubits, is practically identical — within 4 percent — to the deck area of two previous arks built by earlier flood heroes. Atra-Hasis, who appears in the Sumerian king lists, built a circular ark with a deck area of 14,400 square cubits. While Utnapishtim, celebrated in the Epic of Gilgamesh as the king of Shuruppak, built a cubic ark, deck area also 14,400 square cubits.

So the writer(s) of the Genesis “flood” (chapters 6 thru 9) who put pen to paper — or rather, quill to papyrus — sometime after 500 BC, plagiarized from at least nine earlier Mesopotamian flood stories. Much earlier — the Epic of Gilgamesh goes back to at least 2100 BC. In it, the Sumerian God Enik, or Ea, commands Utnapishtim to demolish his house and build a boat to keep living beings alive before the flood arrives — it’s the Noah story practically word-for-word. (One intriguing theory is that the original flood story is actually a dim remembrance of a Black Sea flooding around 5600 BC, when the Mediterranean broke through a rocky sill in the Bosphorus channel, turning what had been a freshwater lake into a saline arm of the Med.)

And just in case you think that’s all long-gone ancient history/myth/legend, consider that at least a dozen expeditions, by my count, have searched for Noah’s ark in Turkey since 1948. That’s when the Associated Press reported that Kurdish villagers had discovered “a large, petrified wooden ship on Mount Ararat.” As recently as November 2019, Fox News reported the most recent discovery on its website under the headline “Noah’s Ark ‘Buried in Turkish Mountains’ as Experts say 3D Scans Will Prove Biblical Ship’s Existence.”

The science of arkeology is, apparently, alive and well.

PREVIOUSLY

• Real-Life Grinch Breaks Into Toys for Tots Warehouse, Drives Off With Truck-Load Full of Christmas Gifts
• HUMBOLDT GRINCH PINCHED? EPD Makes Arrest in Connection With Toys For Tots Caper
• More Toys Recovered From Nefarious Toys for Tots Heist; Stolen Handgun, Ammo, Body Armor and Digital Scales Also Seized

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The folks at Toys for Tots are seeking last-minute donations to replace a truckload of toys that were recently stolen from a warehouse in Eureka.

Local law enforcement made an arrest in connection to the toy heist last week. Unfortunately, less than one pallet of toys has been recovered so far, according to Gregg Gardiner, a longtime coordinator for the Toys for Tots in Humboldt, Trinity, Del Norte and northern Mendocino counties.

Anyone wishing to help can send a donation to 2383 Myrtle Ave. Eureka, CA 95501, or donate through the Toys for Tots website. 

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Press release from Toys for Tots:

Toys for Tots are grateful to the Eureka Police Department and Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department for their quick work in apprehending a suspect in stealing toys for underprivileged needy children at Christmas time.  

Unfortunately, less than one pallet of toys was recovered — out of a semi truck trailer of toys.

Our local Toys for Tots covers Humboldt County, Trinity County, almost all del Norte County, and the northern part of Mendocino County. Well, over 11,000 square miles.  Last year the local chapter supported over 8,000 local children. They need your help to ensure the thousands of children we help each year. 

Please donate to help.

Checks should be made out to: Toys for Tots Foundation 2383 Myrtle Ave. Eureka CA 95501

To securely donate online to the Humboldt/Del Norte/Trinity Toys for Tots using the national Toys for Tots donation system, please:
1. Go to the national website at: toysfortots.org
2. Click “Find a local chapter” on the top menu bar.
3. Select: California, and then Humboldt.
4. Donate using the link. 
5. Or use this link to there: Secure Donation Link to Humboldt Toys for Tots

The Toys for Tots office is located at 2383 Myrtle Ave next to Eureka Floor Carpet One.  Toys can be dropped off anytime during business hours throughout the year.

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Our very own Cal Poly Humboldt was mentioned on Jeopardy last night! 

During the second round of last night’s episode, Jeopardy host Ken Jennings offered contestants the following clue: “They chop down opponents for Cal Poly Humboldt, & they’re okay.”

Contestant Tyler Vandenberg hesitated for a moment but responded correctly with “What are the … Lumberjacks?” and went on to finish first in last night’s contest with a cool $17,600 in winnings. 

Humboldt has been featured on Jeopardy several times in recent years. Local folks may recall a virtually identical Jeopardy clue from 2017: “They chop down opponents for Humboldt State, & they’re okay.”

If you’re wondering why our beloved Lumberjacks are just “okay,” please see the video below for Monty Python’s rendition of the “Lumberjack Song,” the university’s unofficial anthem.

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PREVIOUS EXAMPLES OF LoCO CARING ABOUT JEOPARDY:

• (VIDEO) Ooo! You Know This One! 
• (VIDEO) Carson Mansion, Eureka Featured in $800 ‘Jeopardy!’ Question Last Night
• (VIDEO) Jeopardy Contestant, Minor League Baseball Enthusiast Correctly Identifies Humboldt Crabs as THE BEST
• (VIDEO) LoCO Will Be Very Upset if You Don’t Know Last Night’s Final Jeopardy Question

On this week’s EcoNews Report, spotted owl experts Dave Wiens and Peter Carlson join bird nerds Ken Burton and Tom Wheeler to discuss barred owls and their impact to West Coast ecosystems. The barred owl is in the news because of a draft strategy released by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cull the invasive owl to benefit the native northern spotted owl and California spotted owl. The impacts of barred owls are well-documented — together with habitat loss, barred owls are driving the spotted owls to extinction! — but the barred owl’s impact to other species is a deep concern for ecologists. The more varied diet and higher densities of the barred owl result in significant and new impacts to basically anything that moves and is smaller than the barred owl, from birds to rodents to amphibians and crayfish.

Listen and nerd out!

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Ray Olson’s trek along Jolly Giant Creek continues!

In today’s edition of “Humboldt Outdoors,” Olson takes us on the second leg of his four-mile journey from the headwaters of Jolly Giant Creek, located deep in the Arcata Community Forest, and follows the stream as it traverses through the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt, under Highway 101 and across downtown Arcata. 

Olson links up with Jack Murphy, a lecturer in Botany and Environmental Science at Cal Poly Humboldt, at Shay Park where the creek emerges after being confined to underground culverts for more than a half mile. 

Murphy and Olson chat beside Jolly Giant Creek.

“I love Jolly Giant Creek,” Murphy tells Olson. “We have a creek that has been here since water has fallen from the sky. … We’ve just temporarily impacted it with our civilization. It connects the Arcata Community Forest to Humboldt Bay. And if you love nature, why not invite that nature into the heart of your town?

Olson also chats with former Arcata City Council member and Mayor Julie Fulkerson about the city’s efforts to preserve and protect Jolly Giant Creek over the years.

“I thought it was important to protect the creek for a number of reasons, partly because I wanted people who would live here eventually in these apartments to have this experience,” Fulkerson says, referring to a 1987 city council decision to keep the creek open during the development of a nearby apartment complex at Ninth and J Streets. “But also, in a broader way, for people walking by to have this same enjoyable moment in the middle of an urban community.”

From there, Olson follows the creek over to the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, where it eventually flows into Humboldt Bay. 

Click the video above to learn more!

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NOTE: This article is reprinted from the January 16, 1918 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle.

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It was only a few days after the United States declared war against Germany that James Rolph, Jr., Mayor of San Francisco, entered the ranks of shipbuilders. He had long forseen what was going to happen to the shipping trade, and in other ways he had been preparing for it, in his capacity as head of the Rolph Navigation and Coal Company.

Seeing an opportunity to purchase the old Bendixsen shipyards, located at Fairhaven, across Humboldt Bay from the city of Eureka, he did so. And since then perhaps no individual has done more than he to increase America’s merchant marine by building vessels to replace those sunk by the enemy.

The plant now known as the Rolph Shipbuilding Company’s yards was established in 1868 by the late H. D. Bendixsen, one of the pioneer shipbuilders of the Pacific Coast. During his career up to the time of its being taken over by the Rolph Shipbuilding Company, it turned out and launched 208 craft of all kinds and sizes, both sail and steam.

A generation ago shipbuilding on Humboldt Bay was virtually all Bendixsen. Today it is virtually all Rolph, for Rolph dominates the field not alone in the size of the yards and their productiveness, but also in the number of employees, the up-to-dateness of the plant, and the fair and persistent manner with which he goes about to do things and do them right.

The original Bendixsen property, purchased by the Rolph Shipbuilding Company, has a water frontage of 850 feet. It was under lease at the time of the sale to another concern, which occupied it with a couple of half-completed ships.

Instead of sitting down and waiting until the lease should expire, Rolph, who was anxious to do his bit toward combating the submarine menace, negotiated for and purchased a frontage of 950 feet, the old Fay property, adjoining the Bendixsen place on the north.

A little later he bought another 250 feet directly south of the Bendixsen plant, giving him a water frontage of 2050 feet in all, with a depth of about 500 feet to the property.

In April the Bendixsen yards were purchased. On June 10 following, the keel of the first vessel was laid on the adjoining property and construction work began with a rush.

Four vessels were entirely in frame by October. On December 7, 1917, the lease on the Bendixsen property expired and the plant was taken over, the keels of three more vessels being laid there immediately, making seven in all on the ways.

When it came into being, the Rolph Shipbuilding Company fixed as one of its foundation policies the fair treatment of its employees. The men were allowed to unionize and were paid highest union wages.

The working day was cut to eight hours and each Saturday was made pay day. Moreover, the employees were given to understand that the company was their friend. They were told that, for instance, no charge would be made for hospital service, and that in every other way they were to be made to like their jobs. Just in passing it might be mentioned also that Rolph a few weeks ago made a standing offer of a $100 bank account for every baby born at Fairhaven.

The unionization of a plant that for decades had been nonunion made friends for the Rolph Shipbuilding Company in all but one or two quarters. Those who did not feel as Rolph felt about labor and its rights happened to control the lumber situation. But this availed themselves nothing, for barges were sent by the company to the Columbia River and Puget Sound and the necessary fir timber brought from there — and the Rolph yards continued thrive.

Of the four vessels first started, three are 2500-ton general cargo vessels (steamers). They are 250 feet long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 45 feet 6 inches, and a depth of hold of 19 feet 6 inches.

They are being equipped with 1000-horsepower reciprocating engines and Heine water-tube boilers built and installed by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco.

The fourth vessel is a barkentine, four-masted, of about the same dimensions. It will carry 1,650,000 feet of lumber, or some 2200 tons dead weight.

The three vessels, whose keels were but recently laid, will all be barkentines. Not one of the craft but is being built to the highest classification of the American Bureau of Shipping, the American Lloyds. For instance, other shipyards leave as much as ten inches between the frames of their wooden vessels. In the vessels built at the Rolph yards, six inches is being left between ribs, so that all the ships will be given the maximum of sturdiness, though at a greater cost to build.

The first vessel to be launched will be a barkentine, which will take to the water on Washington’s birthday, February 22. Then one steamer will be launched each month until the three under construction are in the water As soon as one craft is afloat another keel will at once be laid on the vacant ways.

Besides the new construction going on at the yards, old craft are being overhauled and remodeled and made fit for sea again. The once famous clipper ship May, which for the past few years has been used by the Rolph Navigation and Coal Company as a barge, was recently repaired and fitted out as a three-masted barkentine.

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The reprint above appeared in the January-February 1977 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.