My Grandfather Gustav Adolph Roedde was born January 7th, 1860 in Hamburg in northern Germany, back when it was called the Republic of Germany.

Grandfather's parents died when he was only 14 years old. Grandfather had to learn a trade so that he could go to work and take care of himself. He had decided to make his living as a bookbinder and printer. So when Grandfather was still a young boy he studied and apprenticed for seven years to learn the trade.

When Grandfather Roedde was about seventeen years old, he left Germany for Cleveland, Ohio in America to join an uncle who was established there. There are rumors in my family that one reason grandfather left was that he was ordered to join the infantry (foot soldiers) for his military service. My Grandfather's family had come from a Cavalry tradition (soldiers on horseback) so he preferred to emigrate rather than become a foot soldier. When he arrived in Cleavland, however, he found that his uncle had died of yellow fever two months earlier. Unable to return, he stayed in Cleveland for a year or two, living with his aunt and working as a bookbinder.

While my grandfather was in Cleveland during the early 1880's, he met my grandmother, Matilda Marie Johanna Cassebohm. She had also immigrated to North America from Europe. They married in 1883 and went to San Francisco where my Mother (Emma) and her sister were born. Grandfather Roedde worked as a marbler and bookbinder, but he was frustrated with the politics that were occurring between people who owned businesses and those who worked for them. There was much violence and many protests. Grandfather felt this wasn't a good situation to be in. Grandfather, Grandmother and their two young daughters then moved to Canada because it was supposed to be the land of opportunity. He was also a man who loved the outdoors. They first went to Victoria because in those days Victoria was the biggest city in British Columbia.  

When Grandfather arrived in Victoria, he couldn't get work in his own trade, so he started up a box factory and made containers and worked publishing government documents at the Queen's Printer. He kept his eyes and ears open, and when he heard that Vancouver was growing and needed a printer, he moved to the mainland. He became the first in his trade here.

My grandfather and his sons (my uncles Bill, Walter and Gus Jr.) were perfectionists. My grandfather was an outgoing man, who made friends everywhere. Grandfather would entertain his clients by taking them for lunches and dinners at the new Hotel Vancouver and occasionally bringing them home to Roedde House.

G.A. Roedde's pipe

 In his leisure time, Grandfather escaped to his sanctuary in his house: his den. There he would listen to his beloved operas on his gramophone, smoking his pipe and spending time with his large Saint Bernard Dogs.