It is a little bit late, but on Tuesday, Dec. 15, the Town of Barrhead surprised Werner and Betty Engler with a certificate congratulating them on reaching an important milestone – their 65th Wedding anniversary.
Barrhead town Coun. Roy Ulmer, who also is a member of the long time marriage club having celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary this summer, said he was honoured to be able to present the couple with the certificate.
“It really is a tremendous achievement and I’m so glad the town honours couples that reach milestones such as this,” he said.
Karin Engler-Frye, the couple’s daughter, agreed with Ulmer saying that reaching their 65th anniversary is something that deserves to be recognized.
“We had a party with their friends and family earlier this summer, but I’m glad the town decided to do something to recognize this achievement,” she said. “My parents are quite reserved and I know it isn’t something they would have sought out themselves, but I know they appreciate it.”
Although, the town recognized their anniversary last week, the couple was married on Aug. 26, 1950.
“They were actually married in East Germany, in a town called Kreis Demin,” she said, adding two years later the couple decided to flee the then communist country to West Germany.
After spending a few months in a refugee camp, Engler-Frye said her father was able to get a work placement and start building a life together.
“It was always their intention to move to Canada,” she said, adding it took a little more than 10 years before the couple was allowed to immigrate to Canada. “My Dad had health issues because of the poor nutrition during the war and then working in the coal mines he developed tuberculosis. He had to be cleared of that before they would allow him to come to Canada.”
When Werner and Betty did come to Canada they homesteaded in Freedom.
“Actually my dad’s first barn was the old Freedom store,” she said.
Ulmer remembered how mechanical Werner was and how he could fix just about anything.
“I think most of that came from out of sheer necessity,” Engler-Frye said. “Going through the war with nothing you had to be resourceful if you wanted to make it through.”
The Englers farmed in Freedom for 47 years before moving to Barrhead in 2010.
