Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthSeptember 20, 1889
Place of BirthColehill, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMother: Eliza Garrow, Norman, Ontario
Trade / CallingStationary Engineer
ReligionRoman Catholic
Service Details
Regimental Number439095
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion4th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentNot stated but likely with his mother in Norman, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentFebruary 9, 1915
Age at Enlistment25
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 17, 1980
Age at Death90
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
PlotRC A-1-14

Garrow, Frank Jacob

Frank Jacob Garrow was born September 20, 1889 in Colehill, Ontario. He was the 5th child of 8 born to Joseph Garrow and Elizabeth McKinnon.   Frank’s siblings were William, Joseph, Steven, Annie, Lucy, Sarah and Agnes. The family was all born in Ontario.   Shortly after the 1901 census Joseph and Elizabeth moved their family west from Peterborough, in the southern part of Ontario to Norman, Ontario (which now is a part of the City of Kenora).

Frank belonged to a local active Militia in Kenora when he signed on February 9, 1915 with the 52nd (New Ontario) Battalion.   After a short period of time training in first Kenora, then in Port Arthur the Battalion was on its way east by train   to St. John, New Brunswick.   It is from here that they boarded the ship, S.S. California for England and arrived in Plymouth on December 3, 1915.   The Battalion moved directly to Witley Camp for 6 weeks of training under the British instructors.   Bramshott was the next stop for 2 weeks more of training.

Bramshott was a camp near Aldershot. It was established in 1915 to relieve the space limitations in Shorncliffe. During the war it was a training camp, primarily for infantry. By January of 1916 Frank had been transferred to the 17th Reserve Battalion and sometime later he was transferred again to the 4th Battalion.

The 4th Battalion was sent to France.   From February 22 to May 17, 1916 Frank was with the 4th battalion in France before becoming ill.

Frank was diagnosed with myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart muscle)   thus resulting in being shipped back to Canada in August of 1917; Frank had spent a total of 4 months in 2 convalescent hospitals in England.   A news article mentions Private Frank Garrow along with another local Private Erskine and 2 other soldiers from Dryden, H. Fox and R. Wightman, were headed for Winnipeg by train.   Frank was declared medically unfit for further service and discharged in Winnipeg in March 19, 1918.

After his discharge from the army Frank returned home to Norman, Ontario and married a local girl, Adine Cayer.   Their marriage took place September 2, 1919.   They had 8 children, Raymond, Gordon, Percy, Stanley, Elizabeth (Betty), Bernice, Jeanette and Gloria.   They also had a baby girl, Marie, that died at birth in 1941.   Living and raising their children on 3rd Street in Norman, Ontario they belonged to the Roman Catholic Parish in their neighbourhood, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.   Frank began services with the Ontario-Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company in Kenora with the sawmill department.   He was employed with the company until his retirement on November 1, 1959 as a turbine engineer.

Frank’s wife, Adine, passed away March 21, 1975 at 73 years old.   Frank Jacob Garrow lived to be 90 years old when he died at the local hospital in Kenora on January 17, 1980.   Both are buried together in the Roman Catholic Section of the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora, Ontario.

By Linda Pelletier

Garrow-Frank-94 Garrow-Frank-95 Garrow-Frank-96 Garrow-Frank-98 Garrow-Frank-Jacob-1 Garrow-Frank-99

Family Photo:                          
Front row: Joseph (Jr), Lucy, Agnes, Lumina (William’s wife);
Back row: Sarah, Steven, Frank, William; with Mother, Elizabeth, in the middle.

 


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