An Edmonton man is hanging up his career as a piano tuner – at the ripe age of 95.
Dolf Hantelmann has been tuning pianos in northern Alberta for roughly 50 years; it’s a job that has taken him to places like Jasper, Hinton and Peace River.
It appears like he was destined to become a piano tuner – Hantelmann said his family in Holland was musical and even as a child, he knew when he heard a note out of tune.
“I said to my uncle, that’s no good,” he said.
Hantelmann moved to Edmonton in 1963, saying he chose the Canadian city because he had a friend already here. He started work as a piano salesman at the Heintzman Piano Store but quickly found himself busy with a side job tuning pianos.
Word got around Hantelmann had a knack for tuning pianos and eventually, his client list grew. He estimates he has tuned pianos for at least 300 clients over the years, working on “thousands” of pianos.
“When I hear a piano and it’s out of tune, I dislike it very much,” he said.
“It bothers my ears or whatever.”
Hantelmann muses the job never got boring, despite decades doing the same thing.
“It makes me happy when the piano is perfect. I cannot say it differently – it makes me very happy.”
He tried retiring when he turned 65 but still found work tuning pianos. He gradually took fewer and fewer clients and came to the conclusion recently he would hang up the job for good.
He said that catalyst was enough for him to make his decision.
“I love her and we have a very good marriage. It’s amazing. It’s a miracle. I call it a miracle because I met her and it clicked,” he said.
Wife Toni, 85, could see how important piano tuning was for Dolf.
“I didn’t want him to stop – it’s good for him,” she said.
But she admits the pair will now have more time together.
“We shop a little. We visit and we get visitors. The kids come. We never have a full day,” she said.
Hantelmann shrugs when asked about why he decided to work so late into life.
“My aim was to do it until I was 100 but… 95 is good enough,” he said with a laugh.
As for the keys to a long career and a long life, Hantelman said it boils down to a few things.
“First of all, my mom and dad gave me the right genes. Then I say I have a wife that looks after me,” he said, adding he doesn’t eat junk food but instead lots of fruits and vegetables.
“We go along with the flow, and being that way, I think that is why you stay younger.”
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