Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 17, 1894
Place of BirthTexas
CountryU.S.A.
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinAxel and Sophia Nohlgren (parents), North Norfolk, Manitoba
ReligionLutheran
Service Details
Regimental Number2340899
Battalion48th Infantry Regiment
ForceU.S. Army
BranchInfantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentMissouri, U.S.A.
Date of EnlistmentFebruary 23, 1917
Age at Enlistment22
Theatre of ServiceU.S.A.
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathMay 4, 1975
Age at Death81
Buried AtBrookside Cemetery, Winnipeg
Plot26-1952-0

Nohlgren, Frederick Helge

Corporal Frederick Helge Nohlgren was born on 17 March 1894 in Texas. His parents, Axel Nohlgren and Sophia Larson, had both emigrated from Sweden. When he was still a baby they moved to Canada and settled in North Norfolk, Manitoba. Seven more children were born there: Nellie, Axel, Olga, Anna, Oscar, Edith and Nelson. Anna died in 1910 at age 8.

According to his application for Canadian Legion membership, Fred enlisted in the US army on 23 February 1917 at Jefferson Barracks in Missouri. He was assigned regimental number 2340899. He joined the 9th Infantry Regiment and later was transferred to the 48th Infantry Regiment. The 48th was formed in May 1917 and in July 1918 it became part of the 20th Infantry Division. The 20th Division did not go overseas. The Armistice ended hostilities in November 1918 and Fred was discharged in December.

Fred returned to Canada after the war. He was married in Winnipeg on 1 December 1920, at age 26. His wife, Ruby Agnes McCoy, was born in Winnipeg in August 1899, the only daughter of John Henry McCoy and Mary Agnes Davey. Her parents were married in 1898 and her father died in 1901. When the 1921 census was taken Fred and his wife were living in North Norfolk, where his parents still lived, and they had taken up farming. Their only child, daughter Nona Irene, was born in July 1923. Ruby died in Winnipeg in April 1926 and Nona was raised by her maternal grandmother Agnes McCoy.

By 1940 Fred was remarried and living in the town of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. He opened a barber shop in the Lincoln Block on Main Street and he operated it for at least thirty years. He was a member of both the American Legion and the Canadian Legion, Kenora branch. He and his wife Ann moved to Winnipeg around 1972.

Fred passed away in Winnipeg on 4 May 1975, at age 81. He was survived by his wife Ann, his daughter Nona, his brothers Oscar and Nelson and his sister Nellie. Fred is buried in Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg.

By Becky Johnson

Nohlgren-Frederick-90 Nohlgren-Frederick-91


« Back To Soldier Biographies