Edward "Eddie" Startz presented the program from its inception until his retirement in December 1969. Startz was born Eduard Franz Conradin Startz in Neutral Moresnet in 1899. Morsenet was on the border of Belgium, Germany, and Holland and under the joint sovereignty of Belgian and Prussia (in practice, Belgium and Germany), and Startz grew up in the Dutch town of Vaals near the point where all four borders met. After finishing school, Startz moved to the United States where he lived for five years while attending university, and worked his way through school working as a dishwasher, waiter, and travelling salesman. Startz set off for America, where he lived for five years, working as a dishwasher, waiter, and travelling salesman while attending university. In 1925, he began working as a sailor, and travelled to South America, where he picked up Spanish and Portuguese. He returned to Holland in 1928 where he found work as a translator but soon was hired as an announcer at PCJJ, which had just begun broadcasting and where his multilingualism was an asset. A German national by birth, he became a Dutch citizen in 1936 and general manager of PCJ in 1938. Although the retirement age in Holland is 65, Startz continued broadcasting Happy Station until his 70s and reluctantly retired from Happy Station at the end of 1969; he died in 1976.