Erwin Sigisbert Föhn

Erwin Sigisbert (Eddie) Föhn



was born in Switzerland on February 27, 1934, the son of the late Sigisbert Föhn and Anna Berta Föhn- Allemann. His early years were spent there where he apprenticed in cabinet making before immigrating to the United States in September of 1956. As a passenger on The Liberty Ship, he entered the country through Angel Island in San Francisco before settling in Sonoma, California.



While living in Sonoma, he did a great deal of the finish work on the casinos in Lake Tahoe, especially Harvey’s Wagon Wheel. Eventually, he became a tow boat pilot for Exxon, Inc., from which he retired. During his years in California, he cultivated his wonderful handlebar mustache, a very recognizable feature of his since he was 35 years old.



Eddie, as he was known to everyone, became a United States citizen in 1964, an accomplishment of which he was very proud. He had immigrated from Switzerland because of the freedom and opportunities available in his adopted homeland and was always amazed at the goodwill of the American people and their ability to compliment someone for a job well done. Although he traveled the world, seeing the pyramids in Egypt and the Parthenon in Greece as well as parts of Canada, Australia, Portugal, and many other countries, there was truly no place in the world he would rather live.



In 1975, his Swiss classmate (from kindergarten through the end of his school days) and life long friend, Georg Wick, offered him an opportunity to manage his business, Indian Creek Farm, in Olive Hill, Tennessee. So, without a clue as to how to be a farmer, Eddie decided to take Georg up on his offer. He then left California for Olive Hill where he eventually began creating and building Chalet Sunny Slope, his pride and joy, with his own two hands and an enormous number of clamps. Believing that you should “do it right the first time”, he built a structure meant to withstand almost anything. Much of the wood used for the finish trim came from his property; using that wood he milled his own trim and stairway parts and constructed his massive solid oak front door. The stone he needed also came from the property and was excavated by hand. An avid botanist, he grew fruit and nut trees as well as most of his own food – and he loved flowers, especially roses. Living by the motto ”waste not, want not” he gathered apples from the ground under his trees and made his own apple juice every year and built beautiful pieces of furniture from scrapes of wood that other people discarded.



Erwin Sigisbert Föhn passed from this life on Monday, October 1, 2007 at Hardin Medical Center in Savannah. He was 73 years old. He leaves behind a daughter, Susan Caroline Föhn of Sonoma, California and a son, Christian Eric Föhn of Savannah, Tennessee, a brother, Max Föhn and a sister, Erna Föhn, both of Wollerau, Switzerland and two grandchildren, Catherine Hansine Cervantes and Erik Sigisbert Föhn. Other than his parents, Eddie was preceded in death by two brothers, Werner Föhn and Josef Föhn.