Ibrahim Halil Yılmaz
Premium memorialLovingly known as “Ibo Abi”
6 February 1941 — 25 March 2023 · aged 82
Volkswagen worker, works council member and bridge-builder between Wolfsburg and Kayseri
Wolfsburg, Germany Born in Yahyalı, Kayseri Province, Turkey Resting at Yahyalı, Kayseri, TurkeyAbout Ibrahim
The first thing Ibrahim Yılmaz bought with his first German wage packet, in the spring of 1964, was not a coat or a radio but a stamp, so that he could write home to say he had arrived. He kept the receipt for the rest of his life.
He was born in 1941 in Yahyalı, a town at the foot of the Taurus mountains in central Turkey, the son of a wheat farmer. At twenty-three he answered a recruitment notice for guest workers, passed a medical examination in Istanbul, and travelled three days by train to Wolfsburg, where Volkswagen needed hands for the Beetle line. He lived in a company barracks with eleven other men and learned German from the foreman and from Frau Kruse, who sold bread on the corner and corrected his grammar for free. He stayed thirty-seven years.
In 1978 his colleagues elected him to the works council, and he served until his retirement in 2001, the quiet man who translated contracts, argued for prayer rooms and for fair arrangements for workers who needed to travel home to Anatolia, and sat on both sides of the table without losing the trust of either. When Volkswagen's apprentices began to include the children of Turkish workers, Ibrahim made sure every one of them knew whose shoulders they stood on.
He married Fatma in 1967 and brought her to Wolfsburg a year later. They raised Murat, Ayşe and Elif in a flat in Detmerode with a balcony full of geraniums and a kitchen where the tea glass was never empty. Every August the family drove to Turkey in a succession of Volkswagens, three days across the Balkans with the back seat piled with gifts. He supported VfL Wolfsburg on Saturdays, Kayserispor on principle, and was, by the end, the only man in his street who could explain the offside rule in two languages.
Ibrahim died on 25 March 2023, in the first days of Ramadan, at Klinikum Wolfsburg, with Fatma and the children beside him. After the funeral prayer in Wolfsburg, he was flown home to be buried in Yahyalı, in the earth he had left sixty years before. He leaves Fatma, Murat, Ayşe, Elif and nine grandchildren who called him Dede.
“A man who is polite in two languages is never lost.”
- Faith
- Muslim
- Place of birth
- Yahyalı, Kayseri Province, Turkey
- Resting place
- Yahyalı, Kayseri, Turkey
- Passed away
- 25 March 2023, Wolfsburg
Janazah prayer
Tuesday, 28 March 2023 at 08:00 UTC
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Repatriation and burial fund
Help the family cover the cost of flying Ibrahim home to Yahyalı for burial and of the gathering for mourners in Wolfsburg.
$4,959 raised of $6,500
76%20 recent contributions
- AN
Agnes Nakalembe gave $19 · 3y ago
- DT
Dr. Aroha Tipene gave $237.50 · 3y ago
- LN
Linda Neba gave $190 · 3y ago
“With love, always.”
- AK
Anil Kumar gave $19 · 3y ago
- KA
Kwesi Appiah gave $475 · 3y ago
“A small token of love.”
Life journey
Primary and middle school
Yahyalı Schools1948 – 1956 · Yahyalı, Turkey
Finished school, then worked the family's wheat fields.
Travelled to Germany as a guest worker
1964 · Wolfsburg
Three days by train from Istanbul with one suitcase.
Married Fatma Kaya
1967 · Yahyalı, Turkey
A marriage of fifty-six years.
Works council member (Betriebsrat)
Volkswagen AG / IG Metall1978 – 2001 · Wolfsburg
Twenty-three years as the quiet voice at the table.
Volunteer interpreter for new arrivals
City of Wolfsburg Integration Office2001 – 2022 · Wolfsburg
Helped hundreds of families with forms, doctors and school meetings.
Badge of Honour for 35 years of service
Volkswagen AG1999 · Wolfsburg
Presented at the Wolfsburg plant.
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Family & connections
Ibrahim is survived by
- Fatma Yılmaz· Spouse
- Murat Yılmaz· Son
- Ayşe Demir· Daughter
- Elif Yılmaz· Daughter
- 9 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Ibrahim.
Knew Ibrahim? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- DA
Volkswagen apprentice he mentored
When I started my apprenticeship, Ibrahim Abi stopped me at the gate and said, 'You are not the first of us here and you will not be the last. Hold your head up.' I now train apprentices myself. I say the same sentence to every one.
- JW
Teacher at the Detmerode school
He came to every parents' evening for his grandchildren in a suit and tie, with a notebook. He took the teachers' advice more seriously than anyone I have met. All nine of his grandchildren finished school, and I believe they did it for him.
- KB
Neighbour in Detmerode for thirty years
My wife and I taught Ibo how to rake leaves German-style, and he taught us how to make tea Turkish-style. We won, obviously. In thirty years we never had a cross word, only a very long exchange of food over the balcony railing.
- PH
Interfaith partner, Wolfsburg
Ibrahim called me every Christmas Eve to wish me a blessed evening and every Eid I called him back. When I told him that it was a poor trade, he laughed and said it was the best deal in Wolfsburg. He was right.
- MA
Cousin in Yahyalı
Every summer the whole street ran to the end of the road when the Volkswagen came round the bend, packed with suitcases and children. He always brought chocolates for the old people and a new radio for my father. Yahyalı has taken him back gently, as it should.
- HK
Works council colleague, Volkswagen
Ibrahim sat across from me at the table for twenty years. He never once raised his voice and he never once lost an argument. When the plant needed a prayer room, he did not demand it; he drew up the plan, costed it and brought us tea. We built it by Easter.
