Heini Schoknecht

HEINI SCHOKNECHT Heini "Hank" Schoknecht, 78, of La Paz, BCS, Mexico, passed away Dec. 9, 2009. He was born March 8, 1931, in Dargun, Germany. Leaving his native Germany after attending hotel school, Hank immigrated to Canada, where he worked on the Alaska ferry boat system in the mid- 1950s. He moved on to Los Angeles, where he worked at Dean Martin's 77 Sunset Strip Restaurant and then settled in Las Vegas. Starting as a busboy at the Riviera Hotel, Hank worked his way up the ladder to his last position as a captain in the Versailles Show Room. Hank left Las Vegas in 1990 and in partnership with entertainer, Engelbert Humperdinck, purchased and managed La Posada de Engelbert Hotel in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. In the summer of 2009, Hank visited his birth city of Dargun, Germany, for the first time since he left in 1945 at the end of World War II. Hank was preceded in death by his wife, Jacqueline Hivet Schoknecht, who passed away in October 2007. There are no survivors. A memorial service will be held in March 2010, in Las Vegas. Hank has friends all over the world who will always remember his warm smile and sincere attention.