Walter was born and raised in Neviges, Germany. It was there that he met and married Inge, his wife of 68 years. He started out as a "baker apprentice" and volunteer fireman, then decided to be a truck driver.
In 1957, he and Inge moved to Australia with their three children. It was there that Walter got his first taste of ranching. However, after 6 years, Home called and they returned to Germany having added another child to the family as well as one on the way.
In 1964 it was off to Canada, now with their 5th child in tow. There he worked in ranching, dairy farming, trucking, and some millwright work - in both BC and Alberta. In 1966, they added their final child to the mix.
After 1979, he spent the rest of his working days in Williams Lake where he did more ranching and then finally went back to his true calling... trucking. He hauled logs & gravel @ Merrett Trucking until he finally retired at age 83! After that, they moved to Nanaimo to be near most of their family. Walter finally ran out of fuel on November 2, 2020.
He is survived by his wife, 6 children, 10 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren, as well as his brother Harald in Germany.
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