John Edler

John Orville Edler’s story is one of feats of engineering, travel, career and being a provider. These aspects carried through a bond of 60 years with Margaret, and raising 4 kids. John Edler was born November 4th 1937. The 4th child of George Wesley Edler and Della. He was one of 6 kids – Carolyn and David and Mabel before him, Nellie and Tom after him. When he was 2, in August 1939 he had whooping cough as a side-effect of the inoculation given to his older siblings. Their mild form of the disease was passed on as a full infection to Mabel and John. When he was 4, in the summer of 1942, an addition was being built on to the original four roomed house. When working on the roof one day, a little voice said, "Hi Daddy". There was John on top of the ladder wanting to help! They got him down without undue alarm. His grandfather’s nickname for John was Side Kick. John grew and had fond memories of being a farm boy, bare-foot in summer and bundled up in winter. Family trips to the Red Deer river to pick Saskatoon berries, family Christmas at the grandparent’s - going in a sleigh drawn by a team of horses, or later by car. Hot dry dust of summer underfoot, with a backdrop chorus of grasshoppers and summer birds, crisp cold snow and biting winds, helping to “rescue” calves caught in late snowstorms. Also, not so pleasant memories, like walking on cacti with bare feet, frostbite or swatting mosquitoes and horseflies in their seasons.