Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthOctober 21, 1868
Place of BirthTavistock, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusWidower
Next of KinMother: Catherine Schnarr of Kenora, Ontario
Trade / CallingDoctor of Dental Surgery
ReligionChurch of New Jeruselem
Service Details
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion94th Battalion
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Address at EnlistmentKenora, Ontario
Date of EnlistmentAugust 5, 1914
Age at Enlistment45
Theatre of ServiceEurope
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathOctober 31, 1952
Age at Death84
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot1W-14-3

Schnarr, C. Nelson

C. Nelson Schnarr, son of Werner Schnarr and Catherine Zinkann was born October 21, 1868 in Tavistock, Ontario. He was the first dentist in the Rat Portage (Kenora). His office was located on Main St. North over Carmichael’s store. He married Eva Helen Margach September 28, 1896 at Rat Portage. She died within a year on May 3, 1897.

He was with the militia before the war, joining No. 3 Company (Kenora) of the the 96th Algoma Rifles as a provisional 2nd Lieutenant in 1896 shortly after coming to town and just before the regiment was struck from active militia list. When the regiment was reformed in 1905 he was appointed as one of two Lieutenants in Kenora. When the 98th (Rainy River and Kenora) Regiment was authorized in 1908 he was one of the first four officers appointed to it. In 1911 he was appointed to the rank of Major and was second in command of the 98th regiment.

At the outbreak of war he sent a letter to the commander of the No. 10 Military District in Winnipeg offering his services in whatever capacity was needed. He headed the Kenora group of volunteers who left for Valcartier in August 1914 as part of Canada’s first contingent. Due to his age he was rejected for overseas service and returned to Kenora to head local recruiting efforts with the 98th Regiment. He volunteered again for overseas service when the 94th Battalion was authorized in the fall of 1915 and served in the 94th Battalion as a Major, second in command to Lt. Col. H. A. C Machin when the Battalion shipped overseas in the summer of 1916. When the Battalion was broken up to provide reserve troops for the front lines he was transferred to the Canadian Army Dental Corp serving in England, and from July 1917 to November 1917 in France and Belgium.

On his return to Kenora in 1919 he continued his service with the militia in Kenora and was promoted to Lt.-Colonel in 1921, and served as commanding officer from 1924 to 1926 of the Kenora Light Infantry as the unit was re-designated after the war. He later served as the regiment’s Honourary Colonel with the rank of Hon.-Lt. Colonel.

In 1927 he was awarded the Colonial Auxiliary Forces Officer Decoration (VD) for 20 years of meritorious service.
Schnarr continued his interest in the military after retirement as a member of the officers mess and the Lake of the Woods United Services Institute.

He was an active member of the community as a member of the curling and golf clubs, the president and honourary member of the Board of Trade, District Grand Master of the Masonic Order, Member of the Lake of the Woods Lodge and a member of the Khartoum Temple of the Shriners. He was an honourary member of the Canadian Legion and for over 50 years a member of the Gold Hill Lodge, IOOF. He was a charter member of the Kenora Rotary Club and a president in Rotary Year 1922-23.

He served on the town council for several years and in 1926 was appointed private secretary to Peter Heenan, federal Minister of Labour (1926-1930) and the area’s federal Member of Parliament from 1926 to 1934.

He practiced dentistry for 27 years before the war, selling his dentistry practice to Dr. J. A. Dean when he took on military duties full time and returned to practice upon his return from the war.

He died in Kenora on October 31, 1952 and is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery.

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