Derek Neary
Northern News Services

FORT SIMPSON (Sep 10/99) - "Who would have thought it would end like this for him?"

Those were the words Richard Sommer spoke solemnly following an improvised service for his younger brother William at the Fort Simpson Visitor Information Centre last Thursday morning.

Richard and James Sommer came to the Deh Cho last week to take a look at the area where their youngest brother was last seen during a kayaking expedition he set out upon in July.

"Even though William won't know if we came or not, it's a matter of showing respect for him," Richard said of their choice to trace their brother's steps. "I think there's also a value for us to follow his tracks as far as we could and to surrender to the fact that he's not here anymore."

William Sommer, 19, left Ancaster, Ont., on May 15 for a series of kayaking trips in British Columbia and the North. It was a vacation he had eagerly talked about for the past couple of years, according to Richard. His voyage from Flat Lake through the Nahanni Rivers was to be the last leg of his journey, but he never completed it.

William, who Richard said considered himself to be an experienced kayaker, departed from Tungsten alone on July 24. He was supposed to contact his parents three weeks later upon reaching his destination.

"He called our parents on a weekly basis, or whenever he could," said Richard. After four weeks, concern for William's welfare was growing among the family. Their mother contacted the RCMP and a search effort was made. His gear was found approximately 16 kilometres from his point of departure.

"This has been a difficult time for the family and particularly James and I to follow in his tracks. Having seen these things, we have realized that he's gone," Richard said.

Last Thursday, the two Sommer brothers placed a plaque in the Visitor Information Centre, a copy of which hangs in their home. It reads:

"In loving memory

William Frank Sommer, 1980-1999, who went missing in the waters of the Nahanni Rivers while kayaking July 24/'99.

Beloved son of Marius and Elisabeth, survived by four brothers and two sisters and their families.

'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble'

Psalm 46:1"

Richard read a brief entry from William's recovered journal. Written in Dawson, Yukon, it made mention of a few of the glorious sights he had seen, the fact that he was looking forward to once again tasting his mom's home-cooking and there was a religious passage.

"From every indication he was having the time of his life," Richard said, adding that it was comforting to know that William was "right with God."