Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJune 6, 1897
Place of BirthBelfast, County Antrim
CountryIreland
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinHolden Ritchie (Father), Norman via Kenora, Ontario
Trade / CallingBank Clerk
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number1250374
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion76th Depot Battery
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Field Artillery
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentNorman via Kenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentMay 21, 1917
Age at Enlistment20
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJuly 30, 1968
Age at Death71
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot41E-34-3

Ritchie, George

George Ritchie was born on 6 June 1897 in Belfast, Ireland. His parents were Holden and Jane Ritchie. Siblings included: Helena (b. 1891), Grace(b. 1896), Jean (1900 – 1964), Charlotte (b. 1902 – 1961), and Benjamin (1905 – 1955). In August of 1903 the family immigrated to Canada arriving aboard the ‘Bavarian’. The 1911 Canadian Census shows them living in Kenora where Holden worked as a salesman of dry goods.

George enlisted with the 76th Depot Battery in Winnipeg on 21 May 1917. He was 19 years old and working as a bank clerk at the time. When his unit was heading east to Petawawa Camp at the end of May a crowd of citizens turned out at the train station to see them pass through Kenora. It was December of 1917 that George and his unit embarked for England aboard the S.S. Missanabie. When they arrived George was taken on strength by the Canadian Artillery Pool.On 6 April 1918 he went to the Canadian Corps Reinforcement Camp in France. He was posted to the 9th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery on 4 September 1918 and served with this unit until returning to England on 18 February 1919. George was struck off strength to Canada in March.  He received his official discharge due to demobilization on 30 March 1919 in Hamilton, Ontario.

George returned to Kenora where he resumed working as a clerk.  On the 1921 Canadian Census he was not only shown living with his parents and siblings in Kenora, but he was also the census enumerator. He married Beryl Edith Whitaker on 9 November 1923 in Winnipeg. They had one daughter, Doreen, who married Philip Netzel. George worked in the Unemployment Insurance Office in Kenora and also the Department of Highways office.  He was a member of Knox Church and the Kenora Legion.

George Ritchie died on 30 July 1968 at Deer Lodge Hospital in Winnipeg. He is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora. His wife Beryl passed away in 1980.

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