Mr. John Eiler

John ‘Sandy’ Eiler

    John F. Kennedy was born 100 years ago today and there is a new movie out about Jackie. In celebration of those events I thought I would present you with an interesting story about John Eiler who was employed by the Kennedy family for many years and has a connection with both Western University  and London, Ontario.

    Unfortunately, however, I am still missing two-thirds of the story - oddly enough, the Western/London parts. While I could attempt to tell the American part of the tale, I will instead present you with a mystery. I will offer a short report about his American activities, along with sources providing clues, and it will be up to you to solve the mystery surrounding his Western/Canadian background by answering the questions I will pose.

Eiler and Camelot

This photograph is of John Eiler and John F. Kennedy Jr. in Hyannis Port, Aug. 30, 1963. From the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

    That is Eiler above with John Kennedy and here you will find the basic components of the story I was going to tell, were it not for the lack of Canadian content. More details will be found in the annotations accompanying the sources below.

    Eiler was employed for years by the Kennedy family (and other ‘aristocratic’ families such as those of John Foster Dulles, Clare Booth Luce and Huntington Hartford.) We will define him here as an “athletic director”; sort of a personal trainer par excellence. He taught Jackie how to scuba dive and you will find on the cover of a Sports Illustrated a picture of Margaret Caroline Bippus, who he taught how to swim.

   Although there were enough children in the Kennedy brood to keep him busy, he was involved generally in efforts to have all children be more physically active. He promoted an exercise plan for the classroom for schools in the Boston area that often did not have  gyms. Over the years he worked with retarded children, as well  and was referred to as a “national leader in helping retarded children.”  

    I could go on. His American activities are well-documented and he clearly parlayed an interest in physical fitness into an admirable career.

Eiler in Canada

    What I know about Mr. Eiler’s Canadian/London/Western background is also taken from the same sources provided below. Here are the basics without any qualifiers and it would be nice if you could provide more detail.

    John Eiler was born in London and grew up in Welland. He graduated from Western where he majored in physical education and was a “star athlete”. His major sport appears to have been swimming and he was a diving champion who might have been on the Canadian Olympic team, if not for a medical problem. Perhaps while at Western, he taught swimming to blind or deaf students at a school in London.

  Well, I did include a few qualifiers, but you will undoubtedly be able to verify or refute what is provided. By the way, as far as I can determine, Mr. Eiler was born around 1927 and died in 1992. If that is so, this year he would have been ninety so there is another cause for celebration.

The Mystery?

   Perhaps there is no mystery at all, but I think it would be interesting to learn more about Mr. Eiler when he was in Canada and at Western and as a potential Canadian Olympian. The questions are obvious: “When and where was he born in London?” “Does anyone know anything about him while he was at Western?” “Where might he have taught blind or deaf  children to swim in London?” Is there any information about him as a Canadian diving or swimming champion?” Is he another example of someone at Western who had something to do with the “Special Olympics?”

    None of these questions are meant to imply anything about Mr. Eiler. They have to do with the veracity of the sources and the fact that sometimes journalists make mistakes. Although the sources provided below are well-respected ones, it would be interesting to know more about Eiler from some Canadian publications, many of which are not yet digitized.

    Before you begin your search, I will suggest that it might not be easy. I am an amateur armchair historian. The amateurish part is obvious and by ‘armchair’ I mean to imply that my research is based upon only what I can find while sitting in this chair. That is to say: I have done a pretty thorough electronic search. Eiler, for example, does not appear in the Globe and Mail or in Western’s Occidentalia (unless, of course, my search was faulty). You may have to get off your butt and go to a library and sit behind a microform reader or plow through some dusty tomes to learn more about John ‘Sandy’ Eiler.

Sources:

    The citations below are from American newspapers (and one American magazine).They range from 1961 to 1986 and are presented from oldest to newest. Apart from the direct quotations, the annotations were made by me and were intended as notes. While not artfully framed they are not likely to be inaccurate.

    Canadian publications were not excluded, they are just not generally available for electronic searching. They have either not been digitized or lie behind a paywall I was unable to breach (e.g. the Toronto Star). The London Free Press was searched back to 1995 (all that is available electronically) as was the entire run of Maclean’s. Eiler was not found in either.

    Also provided at the end, is one book in which Eiler is discussed.   

1961

“Impromptu Bid Puts 2 Airmen On the Kennedy Softball Team,” New York Times, Aug. 27, 1961, p.73.

Two Air National Guardsmen stationed at Otis Air Force Base took refuge in a gym on a rainy day and were playing basketball when they were joined by some children. The children invited them to lunch and along with Eiler were escorted to the Kennedy compound (he is described as “the Kennedy family athletic director”.) The children were apparently those of Bobby Kennedy and Bobby Shriver. They went for a cruise on the President’s yacht and were fed lunch by the AG’s wife. They were elected captains of the softball teams in a game refereed by Secret Service members.  The game concluded when President Kennedy’s helicopter landed on second base.

1962

“Kennedy Grandchildren Get Fitness Training,” Richard W. O’Donnell, Boston Globe, July 15,  1962, p.1.

This article is the most detailed among those presented here and it begins this way: “Four years ago in Florida, John (Sandy) Eiler, former Olympic diving champion, was hired to teach Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy how to scuba dive.” Eiler then describes how he was hired by Ambassador Kennedy.

The Kennedy’s were not the only prominent people he worked for:
“Last winter, Eiler, who has served a physical education instructor for the families of John Foster Dulles, Claire [sic] Booth Luce and Huntington Hartford, offered to establish a physical education program in the school system of a Greater Boston city for free.”

After a description of the kind of training program he provides one learns more about his Canadian background:

“Eiler came to the United States in 1948 after his graduation from the University of Western Ontario. At the school, he had been a star athlete, which was only natural for he was a physical education major. During his school years, he had helped establish a swimming school for blind youngsters in London, Ont.”

“Eiler had been selected for the Canadian Olympic diving team, but an appendectomy prevented his participation in the competitions.”

1963

“Kennedy Coach Calls John Jr. Star Wader,” Boston Globe, Feb. 3, 1963, p.13.

This article has some good biographical  information. He is referred to as John ‘Sandy’ Eiler and it is noted that he is “Director of America’s most exclusive camp, conducted on the family compound for Joseph P. Kennedy’s 21 grandchildren, the ex-Olympic diving champion was guest speaker at the New England Camping Assn…” It indicates that he has been doing this job for four years. It mentions that he is a father of four. There is a smiling picture of him.

A remark validates the story above from 1961 since it mentions that on rainy days he often took them to Otis Air Force base where there was a skating rink.

It mentions that he has an assistant (a Harvard student- Don Hurley) and that they run the fitness program 7 days a week from 8:30 - 5.

There are some good details about how athletic and active all the Kennedys were.

Eiler has a variety of duties and his standard uniform consists of: swimming trunks, sports jacket, tennis shoes and socks.

“Born in London, Ontario, Eiler suffered rheumatic fever as a child, later overcame his weakness to become national diving champion of Canada.”

“His career with the Kennedy’s started with scuba diving lessons for Jacqueline.”

1963

“JFK Jr. To Be In Swim,” Boston Globe, Feb 3, 1963, p1.

This is just a short introduction, pointing to the more detailed article above.

“Swimming Award Winners,” Boston Globe, Dec.15,1963, p. 66,

This is a picture of the award winners at a banquet for the Swimming Pool Association of New England. Eiler is in it (“former Olympic diving champion and athletic instructor for the late Pres. Kennedy’s family.”) and he presented the medals from the National Swimming Pool Institute.

1964

“Glimpses of Ch. 38 Programs, Boston Globe, Oct. 11, 1964, p.35.

“John Eiler, sports director for the Kennedy family children at the Cape compound, is in charge of physical education for Ch 38.”

The importance of physical education for children is emphasized.

[According to the Wikipedia entry for WSBK-TV, Channel 38 offered, among other things, educational programming for the Catholic schools in the Boston area.]

1966

Sports Illustrated, Jan. 17, 1966.

There is a brief article about the woman appearing on the cover. She is

Margaret Caroline Bippus, the daughter of a Palm Beach surgeon. “Her sporting life got its start when she was 10. Polio weakened her muscles, and she was directed to swim for therapy. Her parents hired John (Sandy) Eiler, a well-known Palm Beach swimming instructor. Each morning at 5:30 and every evening after school Sandy Eiler had Sunny Bippus in the pool.”

1968

“The Paddock was Filled with Ponies, the Pool with People, and the Nursery with Babies.” Boston Globe, June 16, 1968, P.C7.

Eiler is quoted and it mentions that he was athletic director at Hyannis Port for 11 years. The article is discussing Hickory Hill, a Kennedy family property near McLean, Va.

1969

“Clubwomen Spur Drive to help Retarded Young,” Mary Sarah King, Boston Globe, April 20, 1969, P.A11.

Eiler is pictured and he is referred to as “the handsome speaker.”  He gives a motivational speech to convince students to work with the mentally retarded and the caption of the picture refers to him as a “national leader in helping retarded children.”

“State youth advisor of the Massachusetts Association for Retarded Children (MARC) and chairman of recreation for the national society, Eiler was invited by the Westwood Young Women’s Club to address area youth to interest them in helping the retarded.”

It is mentioned that one of the projects of MARC is to have a ‘special olympics’ for the retarded child.

It also mentions that apart from being the sports director for the Kennedy family that he is a consultant for the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation in Washington, D.C.

1971

“Convicts, Retarded Succeed Together,” Leon Dash, The Washington Post, Times Herald, June 30, 1971, P.C1.

This article is about convicts at the Lorton Reformatory who were chosen to help give individual attention to the retarded children at Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s four week day camp.

“John (Sandy) Eiler, the camp’s director since it began in 1961, originally thought of the idea to have Lorton inmates work at the camp as volunteers.” This was the first group to do so and Eiler notes that it has saved money.

1972

The Several Sets of Kennedy Children: What Are They Like?, Paul Robbins, The Washington Post, Times Herald, Aug. 20, 1972, p.G5.

This piece does a good job of explaining why more than a nanny was needed. At this time the Kennedy clan consisted of:

3 - 2 sons and a daughter of Ted and Joan;

11- 7 boys and 4 girls of Ethel and Robert;

2 - son and daughter of John F. and Jacqueline;

4- children of Peter Lawford and Patricia (Kennedy)

5 - of Eunice Kennedy and Sargent Shriver and

3 -of Jean Kennedy and Steve Smith.

A paragraph relates to Eiler:

“Sandy Eiler, a former olympic swimmer who is connected with a Kennedy foundation school for the retarded, is a jack-of-all trades during the summer with the kids. He usually leads them in a variety of games on one of the spacious lawns and also teaches them swimming and water-skiing.”

1986

“Wedding Bells for Caroline,” Melissa Dribben, The Record (New Jersey), July 20, 1986.

Here is the relevant paragraph - I am sure the author just got the names reversed:

“The invited guests, numbering approximately 400, began arriving at 1:35 p.m. The first were Lee Eiler, who taught the Kennedy children sailing, and his wife, Sandy.”

(i.e. his wife is Lee.)

   (I did find one more recent reference from 1995. Someone (likely Mr. Eiler’s son) donated money in memory of Eiler, but I did not think it appropriate for inclusion here.)

Book:

Edward Shorter, The Kennedy Family and the Story of Mental Retardation

Temple University Press. 2000.

    I have not been able to see a copy of this book. It is not available in libraries in the London area. I will provide here the information about Eiler that I was able to get from the T.U. Press site. That is, I have not read this book. It is from this source that I learned about Eiler’s death and calculated the year of his birth.

    First, they needed a director. In 1950 Joe Senior, while visiting neighbor Oleg Cassini in Palm Beach, had noticed a young man from Canada whom Cassini had hired to teach his kids swimming. John ‘Sandy’ Eiler, then twenty-three, had grown up in Welland, Ontario, moved down to Florida after the World War II, done a brief hitch in the U.S. Army, and was now looking for work. He had been a champion swimmer in Canada, prevented from joining the Olympic team only by a burst appendix. Joe Kennedy “liked the way Sandy related to the children and the rapport,” in the words of Lee Eiler, Sandy Eiler’s wife, “and asked him if he would be willing to take on another family.” In those years only Joe Kennedy, Ethel, and Bobby’s two eldest children were around the Palm Beach mansion. (Kathleen had died in 1948.) After Eiler had worked with the Kennedy’s for a winter in Palm Beach, Joe Senior asked if he and his wife would move up to Hyannisport to live. The proud grandfather said there would be “quite a group.” Joe put Eiler on salary and arranged for him to work during the winter with the Boston archdiocese. Eiler thus became for the next twenty-five years the Kennedy family’s resident swimming and touch football coach.

    In Florida, Bobby and Maria Shriver were the next grandchildren on the scene. Eunice therefore knew Eiler well and remembered hearing that as a schoolboy in Canada, Eiler had started swimming classes for blind, mentally retarded, and deaf kids. She therefore asked him if he would be willing to take on the camp at Timberlawn. Pp.113-114.

[note 21 on p.227, indicates that the information is from an interview with Mrs. Eiler. It also says that Eiler died in 1992.]

P.S. As I have noted on the "About this blog" page, this is a personal blog. Although I am an alumnus of Western and was employed there for years, I am now retired and am alone responsible for the  content.