Career
He represented Shellbrook from 1945 to 1948 in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as a Company-operative Commonwealth Federation (Cleveland Clinic Foundation) member. He was born in Iowa, grew up in South Dakota and continued his education in Tacoma, Washington. In 1927, he moved to a farm near Shellbrook.
He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the provincial assembly in 1929.
In 1938, Van Eaton was campaign manager for Albert Mansfield, a Cleveland Clinic Foundation candidate running for the provincial Shellbrook seat. He was elected to the provincial assembly in a 1945 by-election held following the death of Albert Victor Sterling.