Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthNovember 18, 1890
Place of BirthUxbridge, Brock, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinMrs Charlotte Cassie, mother, 413 Toronto Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Trade / CallingPost Office Clerk
ReligionPresbyterian
Service Details
Regimental Number2114923
Service RecordLink to Service Record
BattalionTraining Depot
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Army Service Corps
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Address at Enlistment#8 Hampton Court, Langside Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentJanuary 17, 1917
Age at Enlistment26
Theatre of ServiceGreat Britain
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathMay 3, 1953
Age at Death62
Buried AtElmwood Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Plot18-G0612

Cassie, Donald Burton

Donald Burton Cassie was born on18 November 1890 in the township of Brock, Ontario. His father James Cassie was from the township of Reach as was his mother Charlotte Bagshaw. The couple married on 20 October 1880 in Sunderland in the township of Brock. At the time of the marriage James was farming in the nearby township of Uxbridge. At the time of the 1881 Canada census James and Charlotte were farming in Uxbridge, by the 1891 census in Brock, and by the 1911 census James was listed as a pedlar in Brock. Known children born to the couple were Frank (1881), William Frederick (Fred) (1883), Elora (1888), and Donald. Sadly, although a death record was not found, Elora was no longer listed with the family by the 1901 census. For the 1911 census James and Charlotte were living in Uxbridge where James was working as a carpenter.

By the time he enlisted on 17 January 1917, Donald was living in Winnipeg and working as a post office clerk. His parents and brother Frank and family had also moved to Winnipeg, with his mother Charlotte on Toronto Street given as next of kin on attestation. James and Charlotte later moved back to Uxbridge, living there for the 1921 census.

With a draft from the No 1 Overseas Canadian Army Service Corps Training Depot, Donald arrived in England on 7 April 1917 aboard the Metagama. Taken on strength with the Canadian Army Service Corps Training Depot and then transferred to the Regimental Depot, he was admitted to Moore Barracks Hospital at Shorncliffe on April 12th. According to his service record, in March of 1914 in Sunderland Donald had become ill with cerebrospinal meningitis, leaving him with impaired function of his right arm. Following assessment and treatment at Moore Barracks for over a month, it was decided that Donald was medically unfit for service due to this pre-existing condition. In August he was transferred to the 11th Reserve Battalion and then to the Manitoba Regimental Depot in September. On 2 October 1917 Donald embarked for Canada on the Scandinavian and was discharged from service on 31 December 1917 in Winnipeg, rank of Private.

On 26 April 1919, in Winnipeg, Donald married Mathilde Lucille Pfeifer. Born on 25 February 1901 in Winnipeg, Mathilde was the daughter of Austrian immigrants John Pfeifer and Catharina Schoepp. At the time of the 1921 census, Donald and Mathilde were living in Minaki, a village about 60 kilometres north of Kenora in northwestern Ontario. In 1913 Donald’s brother Frederick had moved there to operate a boat service, listed on the census as a marine engineer. At the time of the census Donald was working as a carpenter at odd jobs.

At some point Donald and Mathilde moved back to Winnipeg, a 1940’s Voters list placing them on Langside Street with Donald’s occupation given as superintendent. By a 1949 Voters list they were living on Burnell Street with Donald working as an elevator repairman. The couple gave birth to one child, son James Richard.

Donald died on 3 May 1953 in the Winnipeg General Hospital. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Mathilde, son James (Muriel) and family, and his brother Frederick in Minaki. He was predeceased by his young sister, his father James in 1932 and mother Charlotte in 1940, both interred in the Bagshaw Cemetery in Sunderland, Durham County, Ontario (formerly Brock County), as well as his brother Frank in 1946 in Toronto. Frederick later died in 1967 in Minaki and is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora. Donald’s son James died on 21 August of 1979, followed by his wife Mathilde on 5 May 1987, both in Winnipeg. Donald and Mathilde are interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Winnipeg.

By Judy Stockham

Photograph of Donald and Mathilde as found on many public family trees on ancestry.ca, originally shared by Patricia Mitchell.
Grave marker photograph by Dave & Janice Yakel, findagrave.com.


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