Gudmund "Bill" Carlo Sorensen

Bill’s family announces his peaceful passing on March 9, 2024, at the age of 91.

He was born in Denmark in 1932 and spent his formative years under Nazi occupation. As a schoolboy, relegated to learning in the gymnasium as Germans used the classrooms, he and others would sneak and switch around the tools in the Nazi trucks until all the hammers were in one vehicle, the wrenches in another, and the screwdrivers in another. His first pair of glasses not only allowed him to see the chalkboard, he also could see the icicles of blood on the troop trains headed south from the northern front. It was a hard growing up, and he had to leave school after grade six, when he hired on as a farmhand.

After the war, Bill did his mandatory military service, and struggled to find meaningful employment in Denmark. Hearing about homesteading opportunities in Peace River, Alberta, Bill emigrated to Canada in 1955, landing at Pier 21 in Halifax on the Norwegian ship Stavengerfjiord. He boarded a CPR train and made it as far West as Ontario where he started working as a farmhand in summer and the lumber camps in winter. In 1959 he married Norine Kime of Whitby, Ontario. Seven children arrived in quick succession between 1960 and 1969: Phillip, Alice, Miriam, David, Ruth, Willy, and Shelley. Bill now has 14 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. 

In 1967, Bill and Norine bought a farm near Little Britain, Ontario. They built it into a dairy operation, and Bill, who had also trained as a millwright, often fell back on work at Lasco Steel in Oshawa, Ontario to help with farm and family bills. In 1980, the family sold the farm and moved to Celista, BC, where Bill continued working as a millwright in sawmills. This ultimately led him to Drew Sawmills in Malakwa, where he fell in love with the Sicamous area.

After divorce, and after working a few years back in Ontario, he retired to Sicamous in 1990. In the early 2000’s he met Myrna Klassen and they settled in for nearly 20 years taking care of each other. When Myrna died in 2022, Bill did not recover. He spent his final year and a bit biding time at Mt. Ida Mews care home in Salmon Arm. Bill often spoke of heading to Valhalla after death, where the cows milk beer. For him, Valhalla is Solsqua Cemetary in Sicamous. Skol!

Bill’s family is planning a private celebration of life on May 11 in Sicamous. If you would like to come, please email David at sorbonne@shaw.ca. If you would like to share a few words about Bill, his family would love to hear them—you can share here on Bowers’ website.