Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMay 9, 1898
Place of BirthKars, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
ReligionChurch of England
Service Details
ForceAir Force
BranchRoyal Air Force (Canada)
Date of EnlistmentMay 1, 1916
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathOctober 31, 1971
Age at Death73

Good, Andrew Harkness

Andrew Harkness Good was born on 9 May 1898 in the area of Kars, Ontario where his family farmed. His father William Henry Good was from Marlborough Township while his mother Harriett Ellen Brown was from North Gower Township. Kars, Marlborough and North Gower all now part of Ottawa. Andrew had three older brothers, William (b 1884), John (b 1885), and Bower Wallace (b 1894). It appears that after the death of Andrew’s mother in 1912 the family unit disintegrated. Bower was already living in Saskatchewan by the time of her death and Andrew later moved there as well.

According to his WW2 service record and his application card for the Kenora Branch of the Canadian Legion, Andrew enlisted with the Royal Flying Corps in May of 1916, place of enlistment on the legion application given as Gull Lake, Saskatchewan. His WW1 service record is incomplete, giving only a discharge date of 21 November 1918, discharged as surplus to Royal Air Force requirements. According to his WW2 record, he was placed on reserve in September of 1916 and from 1915-1917 he was working as a bank teller.

By the time of the 1921 census, Andrew was living with his brother Bower and family in Denzil, Saskatchewan where the two brothers were dealers and agents of farm implements. On 6 September 1927 Andrew married Mabel Sylvia Lumley. According to her BC death record, Mabel was born in Natal, South Africa in January of 1885. Her father William Lumley was from England and the family immigrated to Canada when she was a child. A 1935 Voter’s list found Andrew and Mabel living in Edmonton where Andrew was working as a carpenter. By the early 1940’s they had moved to Nelson, British Columbia where Andrew found work as a truck and tractor driver as well as a carpenter. The couple did not have any children.

With service number K74188, Andrew signed his WW2 attestation papers in Trail, British Columbia on 20 March 1941. For the bulk of his service, from May of 1942 to December of 1944, Andrew served as Battery Sergeant Major in Kenora, Ontario. He was in charge of the staff at the 16th Reserve Medium Battery, responsible for the operation of the reserve unit. Andrew was discharged from service on 29 February 1946 in Vancouver and was awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal.

After the war Andrew and Mabel lived in a number of places in British Columbia. In 1949 they were in Burnaby where Andrew was working as a lumberman and in 1953 they were in Madeira Park where Andrew was working as a fisherman. They eventually retired to Cumberland on Vancouver Island.

Andrew died on 31 October 1971 in the Nanaimo General Hospital although he had been living in Cumberland. He was predeceased by his father in 1932 in North Gower, his brother Bower in 1966 in Swift Current, and his wife Mabel on 30 March 1971 in Fort Hospital in Comox, a town a few kilometres from Cumberland. According to his BC death record, following cremation Andrew was to be interred in the cemetery in Cedar, a small community on the outskirts of Nanaimo. However, the cemetery has no record of his interment.

by Judy Stockham


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