William "Earl" EBY

   Another name for William was Earl EBY.

  General Notes:

The Story of William Earl Eby (1915-1986)

William Earl Eby was born on Nov. 7, 1915 in Edmonton, Alberta, the second child and eldest son of Lindsay Christian Eby and Henrietta Bell. Shortly after the birth of his brother, Floyd, the family moved to Prince Rupert in 1917. Earl attended Booth School but was required to leave at age fifteen to help support the now large family of eight children. He joined the Volunteer Naval Reserve at 19 yrs... of age and in 1939 when war broke out he went into active service in Prince Rupert and was sent to Victoria. He desperately wanted to be sent to the front but as a shipwright was required to work on ships in for refit.

One evening in 1941 he went to one of the servicemen's most popular hangouts in Victoria - Terry's. Here he met and fell in love with the owner's daughter, Laurel Marie Minnis. In Feb. of 1942, Earl received a transfer and not wanting to leave Laurel behind a quick wedding was arranged by Laurel's parents. In three days a complete wedding including the St. Andrew's Presbyterian ceremony, and reception was carried out! After the wedding they left for a cruise - to Prince Rupert where Earl was being sent by the navy.

On arrival in Prince Rupert, Earl's family welcomed them and they moved in with Earl's sister Muriel and her husband Martin. A few months later as the weather got a little better, Earl moved them across the harbour to the Eby's cabin at the Salt Lakes. Earl canoed to work each day and Laurel was blissfully ignorant of the fact that she wasn't on an island but the mainland - Prince Rupert was the island! After a couple of months they moved into the Clapp Building on the corner of 2nd and McBride, across from the Court House.

The next few years involved several transfers to the East Coast with Laurel going with him or following him to each move, except the one to Newfoundland. After the war they settled in Victoria and Earl set up W. E. Eby Construction Co., He, and his father-in-law, Art Minnis, bought several adjoining lots on Robertson Street and here he constructed a home for his wife and new daughter, Beverley Dawn who was born in1948.

In 1952 he was recalled to the navy because of the Korean War. He settled Laurel and Dawn back with Laurel's parents and reported to Cornwallis for a refresher course. Arthur Lindsay was born Sept. 1, 1952 while Earl was away but he did arrive home from Dartmouth on the 5th - and sailed on the 6th - for South America on board the HMCS Ontario. He enjoyed, very much, his tour of South America, visiting Chile, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. He arrived home in the spring of 1953 but by April was gone again - this time to England for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In October of 1953, he was stationed in Vancouver so the family moved to 16th Ave. West for a three month stay.

Dad would have liked to stay in the navy but Mum didn't like him moving around and being away all the time, so he resigned and resumed his construction business. Edward Earl, son number 2 was born in May of 1954. He liked to work on his own so usually could be found on his own job sites working by himself. He always drove home for lunch with the family. In 1958 he won the BC Regional Award for house design and construction for a house he built on Dover Rd. He was quite a humble man but it was easy to see how pleased he was when his Regional Award turned into the National one! In the summer of 1958 the family drove to Prince Rupert to visit the relatives. It was a four day trip through an unfinished Fraser Canyon, over dirt roads, towing a tent trailer.

It was about this time when he suggested to Laurel that he would like to build her another house. Not really wanting to leave her waterfront home, she replied that she would only consider it if it had wall-to-wall carpet and swimming pool. In March of 1959 the family moved to 1744 Gonzales - with wall-to-wall carpet and a swimming pool! Sheryl Eileen was born a month later. During this time Laurel and then Earl became involved in curling and they both enjoyed several evenings a week of square dancing. The family lived in this home until 1968 when they all returned to 1825 Hollywood Cres., Laurel's parent's home.

In 1970 Dad fell and was disabled and forced to retire early. He missed his work but managed to find ways to amuse himself. He enjoyed traveling, although he had difficulty getting Laurel on planes, but did have trips to Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean. Purchase of the Shawnigan Lake house provided a summer retreat and eventually a retirement home, where he lived for about 10 years before his death in 1986 of cancer.

Dad was a strong family man, demonstrating commitment to his family before anything else. He taught us the value of hard work, and we all knew that we were loved and supported in all of our endeavours.

Written by Dawn Eby Quast

William married Private