Willi immigrated to Canada and settled in Trail, B.C. in 1958. The following year he established the Trail Track & Field Club (the oldest track club outside the Lower Mainland), and within ten years his athletes had won numerous national championships, set several Canadian records and one world record, and could boast of medals won at the Pan Am, Commonwealth, and Olympic Games. His record of achievements is even more impressive when one considers the small population he was drawing from. In 1981, Willi received a “Special Merit Award” created by the Provincial Government in his honour.

Willi coached countless Trail athletes, many all the way to the national level, which enabled several individuals to obtain sports scholarships at American universities.

Several of the athletes he trained won international medals. For example, Diane Gerace, a high jumper (who at one time held the world indoor record), won a silver at the 1963 Pan Am Games. Gerry Moro, a pole vaulter, won a bronze at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, while Bob Yard, also a pole vaulter, won a bronze at the 1967 Pan Am Games.

Willi assisted in the development of Canada’s track & field coaching staff by serving as an instructor at the Royal Canadian Legion’s coaching clinics in Guelph, Ontario. He also helped establish Trail’s Track and Field House, a first-class indoor training facility which opened in time for the 1982 BC Winter Games. Krause campaigned for seven years raising money for this project, going so far as to take a part-time job and contribute all his wages toward the cause.