Downtown Kitchener has changed over the decades, but one thing stayed the same.

John Vogl, with his scissors and razor in hand, was a barber you could trust.

He opened his own barbershop at The Walper after moving to Canada in 1954.

He spent 22 years at that location.

“He was a legend in his time,” says Linda Smith. “Long before I worked here I kept hearing about ‘German John.’”

When CTV spoke to Vogl in 2010 he said he had no intention of retiring anytime soon.

“I’ll keep on going,” he said. “I like being with people. Just keep on going.”

Vogl eventually retired in 2013. At that time he had already been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Family friend Sandra Emberson says he made a real impact on his customers.

“Johnny was always very curious. Always wanted to know how everything worked, what made you tick, and I think that’s part of what made him such a good barber.”

Vogl began his career in Austria when he was fifteen, as a barber for the British army. After the war he came to Canada where he cut hair for patients at Freeport Hospital, which at the time was a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients.

Vogl died on April 20 at the age of 86.

With reporting by Stu Gooden