Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | February 28, 1880 |
Place of Birth | Charleston, Queens County, Nova Scotia |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Married |
Next of Kin | Mrs Louise McKenna, wife, Milton, Queens County, Nova Scotia |
Trade / Calling | Mechanic |
Religion | Baptist |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 514220 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Battalion | No 2 Overseas Training Depot |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Army Service Corps |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Date of Enlistment | March 16, 1917 |
Age at Enlistment | 37 |
Theatre of Service | Canada |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | September 20, 1949 |
Age at Death | 69 |
Buried At | Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario |
Plot | 53E-42-1 |
Although the family lived in Mill Village, Queen’s County, Nova Scotia, John Archibald (Jack) McKenna was born on 1 February 1880 in nearby Charleston. Both of his parents Joseph McKenna and Mary Jane Arthur were from Nova Scotia, marrying in 1869 in Liverpool. Over the years Joseph’s occupation was given as labourer on the censuses, likely involved in the logging and lumber industries that the area was known for. Jack had five known older siblings, Florence, Walter, Ellen, Gorham, and Aubrey, and younger siblings Ernest, William, Augustus, Annie, Ingram, and Hilda.
On 8 September 1903, in Liverpool, Jack married Louisa Adelaide Winters. Born in 1883, Louisa was the daughter of George and Louisa Winters of Liverpool. At the time of the marriage Jack’s occupation was given as barber. Jack and Louisa gave birth to known children Vera Louise (1904-1917), Isabelle Marie (1906-1906), James Borden (1907-1982), Joseph Lorin (Lorne) (1909-1989), Roger Bernard (1912-1914), Archibald (1914-1914), Ronald, Gertrude and Jean Louise.
With occupation given as mechanic, place of birth as Mill Village, and his wife Louisa in Milton, Queens, Nova Scotia as next of kin, Jack signed his attestation papers with the MD #2 Canadian Army Service Corps Training Depot on 16 March 1917 in Halifax. Although initially found medically fit, a short time later it was discovered that Jack had a mitral systolic heart murmur. He was discharged from service on 30 April 1917 in Toronto as medically unfit. His character was described as exemplary.
At some point Jack, Louisa and the family moved to northwestern Ontario where Jack worked as a chef in camps throughout the area. Sadly, Louisa died in 1939 in Red Lake although Jack’s later obituary gave the year as 1929. She is interred in the Trinity Cemetery in Liverpool, Nova Scotia.
Jack died on 20 September 1949 in the Kenora General Hospital in Kenora, Ontario. At the time of his death he was survived by sons Lorin of Confederation Lake, Borden of Miami, Florida, and Ronald of Vancouver and daughters Jean Castello of Toronto and Mrs ND (Gertrude) Phinney of Halifax. Jack was interred in an unmarked grave in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora, a military marker installed in 2018 by Last Post Fund. The Trinity Cemetery transcription also lists a marker for him with his wife Louisa.
By Judy Stockham
Photograph of John taken in 1941 in Red Lake, courtesy of Lauren Castello on ancestry.ca