Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthAugust 10, 1886
Place of BirthГ„skja, UllГҐnger, Västernorrland
CountrySweden
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinLisa Haglund, mother, Г„skja, UllГҐnger, Sweden
Trade / CallingLabourer
ReligionLutheran
Service Details
Regimental Number913009
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion197th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at Enlistment268 King Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentFebruary 18, 1916
Age at Enlistment29
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathApril 25, 1980
Age at Death94
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot57E-9-4

Haglund, Otto

Otto Hägglund (anglicized to Haglund once in Canada) was born on 10 August 1886 in Г„skja, UllГҐnger in Västernorrland, Sweden. His parents were Johan Häglund and Elizabet (Lisa) Dahlström who had married on 5 November 1865 in the parish of Г„skja. Otto had a number of older siblings, Johan (1866), Katarina (1968), Petrus (1870-1880), Margaretha (1872), Lisa Johanna (1875), Marta Stina (1878), and Petrus Bernhard (1881). Otto’s father was a topare (crofter).

It appears that Otto was the only member of the family to immigrate to Canada. He left Göteburg aboard the Eldorado on 22 February 1911 on the first stage of his journey, and then embarked from Liverpool aboard the Lake Champlain that arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick on March 13, destination given as Fort William, Ontario.

Otto was living in Winnipeg, Manitoba when he signed his attestation papers on 18 February 1916 with the 197th Battalion. His occupation was given as labourer and his mother Lisa back in Sweden as next of kin. With blue eyes and fair hair, Otto was 29 years old. However, training did not go well for Otto as he had ‘cardiac trouble and flat feet’. Dating back to childhood and a rheumatic condition, he had a mitral regurgitation murmur (leaky heart valve), a slightly enlarged heart, and his left plantar arch was weak. With conduct given as good, rank given as Private, Otto was found medically unfit for service and discharged in Winnipeg on 14 December 1916.

Otto was to make northwestern Ontario his home, living in a number of towns and working self-employed as a carpenter. While living in Norman, a village on the outskirts of Kenora, Otto joined the Kenora Branch of the Canadian Legion, likely in the early 1950’s as indicated by a Voters List of the day. On 1 December 1957 Otto was admitted to the Pinecrest Home for the Aged in Kenora.

Predeceased by his father Johan in 1906, his mother Lisa in 1925, and all of his siblings, Otto died on 25 April 1980 at Pinecrest. He is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora. ‘During his 22 year residency at Pinecrest Otto made many friends among the residents and staff. He will be sadly missed by Mr Hughes and his staff.’ (Kenora Miner and News)

by Judy Stockham

Haglund-Otto-2

Otto’s grave marker was installed in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in 2018 by the Last  Post Fund.


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