William John “Bill” Smoler (1916 – 2007)

Bill Smoler was born in Manitoba. In the early 1930s, he rode the rails working at cutting timber in Quebec and teaching elementary school in Toronto. In 1941, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and trained as Aircrew Navigator until he was honourably discharged in 1944. This was two weeks prior to graduation and overseas action. He married Cecilia “Toot” Bauer in Edmonton in 1945 and flew to Whitehorse to work for the American Army. For many years Bill provided mining and road construction companies with heavy equipment.¹⁾

Bill and Toots helped to start the Little League and Babe Ruth baseball leagues in Whitehorse and for years were involved with the Men's and Ladies fast ball leagues. In 1988, Bill was an initial inductee to the Softball Yukon Hall of Fame. He served the Yukon Order of Pioneers (YOOP) as Secretary /Treasurer. He was a good gardener, proud of his greenhouse, and often took ribbons at the fall fairs. He was active in a variety of seniors’ organizations and represented Yukon seniors on the Canada Council on Aging for a number of terms.²⁾