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Truro native expatriot dies at 77 in Costa Rica
By Bryan Kay
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — The expat scene in Costa Rica is full of colorful characters. Some of them are shady types who keep a low profile, many of them drawn by a perceived safe haven from U.S. justice. Others are idealists who believe they have been shunned by their homeland and seek refuge amid the easy anonymity of the Central American nation.
But, say friends, neither label could be pinned on well-known Truro-born expat William Edlund, 77, who died recently at his home in the capital.
The former Navy torpedoman and merchant seaman was a regular fixture around the central San Jose bar scene, recognized by hundreds of expats and tourists by his trademark sailor’s hat.
Known simply as “Captain Bill,” he was a ubiquitous figure who held court almost daily. Those who knew him, among them 23-year pal Robert Foster, described him as a knowledgeable and well-read man.
His popularity saw his death marked by a remembrance service at one of his favorite downtown haunts, New York Bar, and an obituary in the local English language newspaper, A.M. Costa Rica.
Those who may have dismissed him as a drunk would be wrong, the newspaper wrote. “He was a man who did things, as in the Frank Sinatra song, ‘My Way’.”
Edlund, who never married and had no children, was born to Cape Cod seafarers in 1930, growing up and spending his younger years in Truro.
He left to join the Navy and his seven-year service included a stint on the submarine Trumpetfish.
According to friend Michael Cook, a Truro and Costa Rica resident who met Edlund during a trip to Costa Rica, he often reminisced about his hometown, lamenting when told of changes that altered the image he remembered.
Edlund was born on a property near Highland Light, said Cook, but left Truro in the 1950s, never to return.
A world traveller at heart, he never forgot his hometown. Cook told how Edlund's memories had been rekindled after he brought a box filled with sand from Cold Storage Beach.
“Over beers at sundry establishments, he would grill me about what was going on in town, and what changes were being made,” Cook told A.M. Costa Rica.
“Sometimes he would shake his head in disgust at what I told him. At other times he would grin like the Cheshire Cat when he learned many of the things he remembered of this place at the windy tip of old Cape Cod are still here.”
During one such conversation, said Cook, he was happy to learn the Old Colony Tap remains intact and that Dutra’s Market still stands.
“He was even happier to hear North Truro Center is still one of those places you could miss while driving through if you were to blink or sneeze,” added Cook.
“Old George [Dutra, the Dutra family patriarch] hadn't seen or heard from Capt. Bill in more than 40 years, but it was very obvious he still held his old friend close in his heart,” said Cook. “Living here at Land's End has a way of forging very strong friendships between people, especially among the old time townies.
“I told old George about the gathering at the New York Bar and we decided that we, at that same time, would go out to the property that abuts old Highland Light, the property where Capt. Bill was born, and take a few minutes to quietly honor a native son of old Cape Cod who came to call Costa Rica home.”
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Ronald R. Dumas
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Dec 27th, 2007