Erich Bertram was born in 1931 in Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, in a town near the border of France. He headed to Canada at the age of 24 after leaving his job in the pharmaceutical industry. He had been working in an organic chemical laboratory with chemicals toxic to the body if not properly protected and there was always the fear of contamination. His work area was considered hazardous and definitely a non smoking area. He was happy to leave the job and when he did he never looked back.
He left Germany in 1956 and arrived in Calgary on the 14th of May at 10 a.m. with $35 in his pocket. By 8 a.m. the next day he had a job with Burns & Dutton Construction building the Sarcee army barracks in Calgary. He knew he had to be on a tight budget and hang on to the $35 and use it to pay the rent and buy food until his first pay cheque came in; it wasn't easy but he managed.
Erich became a Canadian citizen in 1961. He eventually ended up in Prince George and worked at Sinclair Mills and several other sawmills until he went back to Germany in 1964 to visit his ailing father. It was during this time that he met and married Helga Goerlitz.
Helga worked as a teletype and key punch operator in the freight office for the American forces in Bremerhaven. She eventually transferred to the Coleman Army barracks in Manheim to work in data processing. Erich was working in the same place and that is how he met Helga. They got married in October of 1966 and decided to immigrate to Canada.
They boarded a ship called the Maasdam out of Rotterdam, Holland and arrived in Halifax at Pier 21 in March of 1967. They eventually arrived in Toronto where they stayed a short while with relatives as they prepared to travel west. It was here that their daughter Diane was born. They boarded a train and nearly four days later they arrived in Prince George.
Helga recalled what that trip was like and said, "We were unable to get a sleeping unit because they were all booked. Not knowing any better we thought this would be ok. We boarded the train with our four year old daughter and a two month old baby and we were directed to our seats on a bench. It was awful but everyone was so nice to us. Fortunately we both spoke fluent English so that was not a problem. The janitor on the train always made sure he heated the baby's bottle just right. It was a long trip but we made it and we started our new life together in Canada."
Erich owned a house on Connaught Drive but it was rented out so they got a place to live at the Lee Apartments in South Fort George.
Erich went to work at Anzac for the Pas Lumber Company; this left Helga and the two children alone in town. To make a long story short, she was very unhappy and soon threatened to take the children and go back to Germany. Erich quickly got a company house for the family at Kerry Lake which is north of Bear Lake and all was calm once again in the Bertram household.
Eventually they moved into Prince George and bought a house on the corner of Elm Street and 17th Avenue and lived there for the next four years while Erich worked for the forest service.
They moved to Clearwater and Erich worked for the Weyerhaeuser Mill in Vavenby as the log quality control supervisor and successfully made improvements to the production of the output of the sawmill lumber.
They returned to Prince George in 1977 where Erich continued in the lumber industry until he retired in 1991. They bought 50 acres of land in Hixon where they built a log house, raised sheep and kept a huge garden. Erich said, "I sold the farm because I could not resist a very good offer to sell the place and we moved back to Prince George. I was now determined to stay retired."
Helga worked for BC Rail for 25 years as a key punch operator and retired in 1995. At one point in time Helga was transferred to the BC Rail terminal in North Vancouver. Erich found work as a licensed security officer at the Vancouver General Hospital. Erich said, "That was a very interesting job and I only wish that I had kept a diary of all of it."
They have four daughters Lillian, Martina (Kim) Stoltz, Diane (Mike) Clifford-Moss and Christine (Mike) Trepanier as well as four grandchildren who all live in Prince George and all of them are the highlight of their lives.
Erich and Helga both volunteer their time at the Spruce Capital Senior's Recreation Centre; in fact they serve as board members at the centre. Helga said, "It is a great place with great people. We play cards there twice each week and Erich enjoys the library. We have many good friends there and I highly recommend it for good fellowship and great food."
Erich competed in the 2016 BC 55-plus Senior Games in Coquitlam. He took silver in shot put and also in the discus throw. He had an injury which prevented him from competing in the javelin throw. He has been active in sports since his high school days and went on to compete against student select teams from Sweden, France and international teams where he took all three of these events on many occasions.
Erich spends his time reading non-fiction and history books of all kinds. He is keen on the history of Prince George and in particular the Spruceland area of the city.
He said, "I remember the days when the area where the Spruceland Shopping Centre now sits used to be bush. We could see all the old logging roads and as time went by the area was developed into what it is now. The road from Quesnel and the Hart Highway was still partly gravel and soon there were plans for a bridge, followed by the bypass and once that was done along came the shopping malls. Before the shopping malls the main shopping areas in Prince George were on George Street and between Third and Fifth Avenues.
"We have never regretted coming to Prince George. I liked it here immediately and I was never homesick for the old country. I can not say the same for Helga. She was extremely homesick for her family and the logging camp life was really hard on her. She stayed, she raised the children and now we are growing old together. We are both thankful for our family and our friends and it just doesn't get any better than that."
