Charles Willner - Service to God and Country
RCAC Signals Sargeant, Linwell HS
Charles Willner was born on May 19, 1939 in Tisdale, Saskatchewan. From early on, Charles knew that his life would be in service to others.
From 1953 to 1958, Charles enlisted in the Royal Canadian Army Cadets at Linwell High School, in Merritton, Ontario. Training at Camps Ipperwash and Borden, he was promoted to Sergeant in charge of signals and finished as Major and Corps Commander.
From 1954 to 1958, Charles enlisted in the 44th Field Artillery of the Royal Canadian Army Reserves in St Catharines, Ontario. He was promoted as a Bombardier in charge of Field Signals.
In 1959, he enrolled in Zion Bible Institute, in East Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A. Charles graduated in 1962, with a diploma in Biblical Studies, and Christian Education.
From 1963-64, Charles was enrolled in Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri, USA.
Outstanding Trainee, Ft Jackson, SC
Charles had obtained an I-20 Green Card so that he could work to put himself through college in the U.S. This Green Card also meant that he was liable to be drafted. So, in January, 1965, he was inducted into the U.S. Army. He trained at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where he received an award as “Outstanding Trainee” in his company. At Fort Dix, New Jersey, he was trained as a clerk typist and was posted as a personnel specialist to the U.S. Army, Fort Gordon, Georgia. (As a Canadian, he was not sent to Viet Nam.) He received an honourable discharge in January, 1967, having been promoted to the rank of Sargent.
Fern and Charles
During his time at the Zion Bible Institute, Charles met his wife, Fern (Crouch) Willner. She graduated from Bible school with Charles in 1962.
Returning to Evangel College, Charles graduated in 1968, with a B.Sc. in Mathematics, Physical Science and Education. This qualified him for a Teacher's Certificate in Mathematics and Physics for Life in Missouri.
In 2000, he earned an Ontario Teacher's Certificate from the College of Education in Toronto, Ontario.
After raising her family, Fern returned to Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri, and graduated with a B.A. in Social Science, Art and Bible in 1988.
Charles and Fern have seven children and ten grand children. Fern was promoted to Glory in December 2002. Charles married Gloria Gaff in August 2004.
Willner Family
Charles and Fern served four terms as resident missionaries; in Kenya from October 1972 to December 1974, in the Democratic Republic of Congo from January 1981 to December 1984, in Kenya again from September 1992 to December 1992, and on into the Congo from January 1993 to December 1994. In addition, Charles made thirty-two short-term mission trips during school breaks.
When the Willners were in their second term in the Congo, there were still African elders who remembered the Canadian Forces that fought for the United Nations Peace Force after Independence and in the Civil War of 1960-1965. This was the only time that the United Nations sent in troops to "make peace." Some of the previous missionaries for the British Assemblies of God had been held in house arrest in Lulimba, and Kalemie. Charles and his family lived in Kalemie.
During their fourth term, Charles and his family were stationed in Bukavu, Congo, on the border with Rwanda. At the beginning of the Rwanda Genocide, they could see across the border to houses burning and people chasing each other with machetes. On Wednesday, April 6, 1994, the border was closed. That was the day that a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down. Both presidents were Hutu, and were killed. Fortunately, in March, Charles had been able to take his wife and daughter out of Congo, to Kigali, Rwanda, where they left for home.
In May, 1994, with the tensions of the genocide building, Charles decided to leave the Congo. He went to the Canadian Consulate in Bujumbura, Burundi, to renew his Canadian passport. When he arrived, everyone was scouring around. He was invited to leave on the Canadian Forces Hercules to Nairobi, Kenya. Half of the flight was Rwandan orphans going to a Catholic orphanage in northern Ontario. The other half was East Indian Canadian business men from Kigali.
Tour of Canadian Battlefields, Flanders, Canadian War Memorial in Belgium, and War Museum, England