DELMER EDWARD RIEDER Delmer (Dell),
first born son of Edward Rieder and Rose Sarauer came into the world on August 3, 1940, at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Humboldt. Delmer's in- quisitive mind got him into trouble at a very early age ... he remembers crawling into a blower pipe on the old threshing machine and getting stuck! Life on the farm was usually pretty quiet so it was great fun to go over to the neighbour's (Louis Frank's farm) to play with Geraldine. Ives School in the fall of 1946 found Delmer sitting shyly against a wall watching the kids play "pump, pump, pull away". During that first year of school the teacher had instructed the children what to do in case of an air raid. Delmer remembers being very afraid at hearing the sound of an airplane. School was exciting, especially riding there and back in a caboose. Dell always marvelled at how Mrs. Grace could teach so many grades at one time. At home it was pretty hard to keep a guy interested in bringing in wood or doing chores when there were so many distractions on the way - Dell always had to find out what made things work.
In the fall of 1950 the family moved to the Fraser Valley in B.C. and Delmer grew up, went to Voca- tional School then became a lay apostle for Bishop O'Grady in Prince George. Soon afterward his urge to see the world caused him to join the Canadian Navy which he served for three years.
While in Victoria he met and married Agnes Hauk. Agnes was born in Macklin, Sask. on September 1, 1940, the eldest of six. She was working as a secretary at the Royal Trust company and very involved in C.Y.O. (Catholic Youth Orgaization) when she and Dell met.
They were wed on the 4th of May, 1963 in Kelowna. Upon his release from the Navy, Dell moved Agnes and baby Suzanne (born June 28, 1964) to Port Alberni where he worked in the Pulp Mill as a millwright. Their family increased: Gregory, born October 24, 1965, Barbara, May 17, 1967 and Shannon, October 9, 1970. During one of the many strikes, Dell had time to look around and since he's always dreamed of having his own business, he purchased a small paint store. Within two years this had expanded to such an extent that a decision to either build another store or sell out had to be made. The temptation to get out of the "commercial rat race" was great so the store was sold. Delmer and Jerry Knittig (formerly of Annaheim) decided to scout around Alberta to find the ideal spot to live - while exploring, Jerry's grandmother (Mrs. Joe Hoffman) passed away so Dell and Jerry hurried on to Annaheim to attend the funeral. Dell was impressed with the "mild" winter, abundance of sunshine and the friendliness of the people particularly the teenagers, that put on a pancake breakfast. April 20, 1976 saw the Rieder family settling into a mobile home across from St. Ann's Church (where the Senior Citizen's Centre is now located.) Delmer bought an acreage from Joe Denis, built a home and a large shop where he puts his creativity to work on woodworking products and the pasture and barn are put to good use by Suzanne's horses.