Article

Extraordinary Chronicles of Ordinary Lives

“The Happy Yodeler”

This is a story of a man who has a song in his heart, a sparkle in his eye and a great love of life.  He shares his happiness with those around him through his warm compliments, words of encouragement and his often present yodel.

Wilhelm Eder was born in Rudersbacsh a small Austrian village 824 m above sea level on April 9 1923.  He was the third oldest among 5 children.  He had 2 brothers and 2 sisters.  His family was Catholic.  Childhood holds very special memories for Bill despite the hardships.  It was a tough time to be a kid during that period of history, it was during the depression and times were tough.  In order to help the family out he and his older brother had to tend to the cows for a nearby farm.  They would go to the farm before and after school to work.  Bill loved school and was quite sharp (even if he does say so himself) he had very good marks.  His favorite subjects were reading, writing and religion.  He played soccer at school and learned English, French and German.  Bill completed elementary school and then learned a trade.  After he made his journeyman papers in cabinet making he was drafted into the army. 

He was sent to Panzer school where he learned to drive a tank.  While inside the tank Bill always felt protected by his armor.  He was then sent to the Russian front where he was shot down on the retreat.  He had to crawl out of the tank to safety and it was then that Bill sustained his injuries; he severely froze his hands and feet.  He was sent to a hospital and when he was well again he was sent back to his unit.  By then the war was almost over.  He became an English POW but since he was an Austrian he was discharged.  He went home and earned his Master ticket in cabinet making.

Up until the break out of the war Bill had planned to become a Catholic priest which was also what his mother had always hoped he would become.  The horror that Bill witnessed during the war was enough to change his mind.  He decided that if God could allow a war and all of that evil there was something wrong and he changed his mind (this change of mind thankfully opens the door for Bill to take a wife later in this story!)

Making a life in Austria was proving to be challenging, it was difficult to get a flat to live in among other things so Bill decided to immigrate to Canada in 1951.   He landed in Halifax and began looking for work to repay the cost of his voyage.  He worked in Timmins in the woods as a horse logger for some time and then he and some friends decided to “go west young man” in 1952.  On his way west he made a slight detour north to the Yukon where he had his hands full of gold…he was a gold washer.  There were days though where he said he had both hands full of gold, but he always gave it back.  While in the Yukon he also worked on the oil rigs.  He was in the Yukon from 1953-1955.   Prior to his trek to the great white north, Bill was part owner of a Restaurant in Stanley Park.  His restaurant was on Chilko St. right across from the little lake.  

Now it was mentioned earlier that upon Bill’s return from war the door was opened for a wife to enter his life and well he found that special lady in Vancouver. 

Lilly a young German girl lived in a rooming house in Vancouver.  It just so happened that the owner of the rooming house was an Austrian man and a friend of Bill.   The owner had a plan of introducing Lilly and Bill, and he also knew that he would need to pull a fast one on Lilly.  Lilly had made her mind up when she was 5 that she would never get married and never have children.  He was brought to Lilly’s room just as Lilly was getting ready for bed, saying “I want to show you something…” because if Lilly had known it was a set up she never would have opened the door.  The meeting went well and they ended up going on dates with the Bills’ friend and his wife.  Then Bill proposed and Lilly answered “well I’ll have to think about it”…. Bill then pled his case, he was a hard worker a skilled cabinet maker and he could take care of her for the rest of their lives.  That is when Lilly admitted that she had already fallen in love with him and “yes” she would marry him.   They were married in 1956.  Lilly worked as a chef at the Johann Strauss on Howe Street.  Bill insists she is the best cook in the world, Lilly says that is because she only cooks what he likes to eat.  Bill insists that Lilly’s cooking is 50% of their love life.  Bill and Lilly led a very happy life together; in 1959 they built a house on Culloden Street in Vancouver.  Bill was so busy working on the building of the Oak Street Mall at that time he was not able to do any of the work on their own house.   Lilly decided that she would like to have a child and six years after they were married, Rick, their son was born.

They lived happily in Vancouver until a year and a half ago when Bill became ill and needed some help, so they decided to sell the house and move to Surrey to be closer to Rick and his family. They are now happy to be close to their 5 grand children which include two sets of twins.

Bill loved to ski and was very skilled at it.  He was a ski instructor on Mt. Seymour and his advice has always been “stay loose and that way you won’t break anything”.  He taught his family and friends all how to ski.  He and Lilly stayed active throughout their lives.  Bill skied, Lilly swam and they both used to love to go to Harrison Hot Springs before they changed the depth of the pool.

Bill is a healthy 83 year old who claims his secret is simple: he lived a clean, healthy and active life and he always followed the 10 commandments.  Bill attends our Surrey Come Share Day Centre once a week and keeps us all smiling.  He is known by his uplifting yodeling that accompanies him everywhere he goes.