A couple of friends from the Royal Oak Village in Lacombe have come together to publish a book. The book is titled ‘The Prairie Pilot Who Flew For God’ and delves into the newly married life of Keith and Yvonne Kerr and their work as missionaries. 

Keith Kerr was a young pilot training to work with an international airline when his goal was interrupted by God. He and Yvonne began a lengthy career with the Wycliffe Bible Translators. The organization had a goal of bringing the Work of God to tribal groups in their native languages. Keith and Yvonne were flying personnel and materials to the translators into the jungles of Bolivia and Ecuador. They spent 35 years with the Wycliffe Bible Translators and gathered many stories during that time which are featured in the book.  

Keith Kerr has now passed away. Yvonne Kerr has been living at Lacombe’s Royal Oak Village for the past two years. At the residence, she met Keith Clouten who authored the book.

“When Keith Clouten introduced himself, my Mother told him that her late husband had the same first name and explained a bit of their story of being missionaries. Keith Clouten exclaimed that their life sounded like a story that needed to be told. It wasn't until a year later that he offered to write it,” explained Arlene Waddell, Yvonne’s daughter. 

Keith Clouten is passionate about sharing stories and has authored nine books in his life. 

“I am a writer with several published books.  I was impressed with the Kerr story, so offered to write up the story for them,” said Clouten. 

Yvonne was able to provide a bit of source material for Clouten to work from that she saved over the years. 

“Over our 35 years as missionaries, I sent out newsletters quarterly to keep in touch with family, friends, and the many who supported us financially.  I saved all of these letters, some pictures and pertinent articles.  I gave these to Keith Clouten, who was able to extrapolate from all that information and develop the book from this,” explained Yvonne. 

Throughout all their adventures together, Yvonne has one favoured story in the book. 

“My favourite story throughout our 54 years of marriage was to share how we met and it is still my favourite part of the book,” she added. 

Arlene believes her dad would have been proud to see their lives come to print. 

“Any time my dad could talk about flying or airplanes was a great day for him as this was his passion. The bonus would be to share and perhaps inspire others to consider being involved with Bible translation and helping people from all walks of life. I think he would be pleased with the resulting book,” added Arlene. 

You can find the book online by doing a quick search and purchase it online or rent it out at the Mary C. Moore Public Library. All of the royalties from the from book sales are being donated to Wycliffe Canada.