Of all the members of the Roedde family, however, it was W. A. "Bill" Roedde who was the most active in the R.V.Y.C. In 1906, at the age of sixteen, he was listed with his adopted brother Walter Wiedman as a junior member.

Regatta in 1880's, Vancouver Courtesy of BCARS:F-09656

In 1917, Bill Roedde went overseas as a gunner in the First World War. "He was in the trenches," says his niece Gwen Varcoe. "It must have been bad. Uncle Bill never wanted to work when he came back, and he lived mostly on his boat." Though he helped run the business with his father and his brother Gus, his first love was sailing.

In 1936, Bill Roedde and naval architect Tom Halliday, with the aid of Burt Tupper and Jack Williams, designed and built the first of the Roedde boats. It was built at the Boeing Shipyards in Coal Harbour and christened the "Carita."

In order to raise funds to build the boat a raffle was held. Hal Straight of the Vancouver Sun described the scene at the draw as being tense and exciting as dozens of business men waited to find out if they had become yachtsmen. Jack Storey won the draw much to his surprise. He immediately named Bill Roedde as his skipper since Storey knew nothing about sailing. A few years later the Carita was sold to Bill Roedde. Many current members of the R.V.Y.C. remember Bill Roedde and his "Carita".(Annals of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, 1970)

Bill Roedde was named Honorary Hydrographer of R.V.Y.C. for the years 1934 to 1936, was elected Fleet Captain from 1941 to 1943, then named Rear Commidore, and made Honorary Life Member of the R.V.Y.C. in 1945.

Bill Roedde died in June 1957. As a member of the R.V.Y.C.'s Eight Bells Club, his ashes were scattered at sea and his name was engraved on the Bell.