Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 10, 1896
Place of BirthRathwell, Manitoba
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinJames Henry Sharpin, father, Rathwell PO, Manitoba
Trade / CallingFarmer
ReligionMethodist
Service Details
Regimental Number3345081
Service RecordLink to Service Record
Battalion1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Address at EnlistmentRathwell PO, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentMay 8, 1918
Age at Enlistment22
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Death Details
Date of DeathAugust 4, 1957
Age at Death61
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot31E-15-1

Sharpin, Frederick Howard

Frederick Howard Sharpin was born on 10 March 1896 near Rathwell, Manitoba where his family farmed. His father was James Henry Sharpin and his mother was Elizabeth Sharpin, first cousins from Howick, Huron in Ontario where their families farmed. The couple married on 15 March 1890 in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Elizabeth had given birth to two children while in Ontario prior to the marriage, Agnes (1888-1932) and Thomas in 1889. Sadly, Thomas died shortly after arriving in Manitoba. Other children born to the couple in Manitoba were Anne Maria (1891-1971), Mary Marinda (1892-1915), George Edward (1894-1931), Howard, Irene Pearl (1902-1997), and Edith Elizabeth (1905-1996).

As required under the Military Service Act of 1917, Howard has his medical examination on 3 November 1917 in Treherne, Manitoba. He was called up for service on 8 May 1918. His occupation was given as farmer and his father at home as next of kin. Given a conditional leave, he was struck off strength on demobilization on 14 February 1919 in Winnipeg, rank of Private.

Under the same Act, Howard’s brother George had his medical examination in November of 1917 in Regina, first assigned to the 1st Depot Battalion, Saskatchewan Regiment. Going overseas in January 1918, he served in France/Belgium with the 5th Battalion and then the 16th Battalion during the latter days of the war. Returning to Canada in late April of 1919, George died in 1931 in the Ninette Sanatorium of pulmonary tuberculosis, death attributed to his service. A Memorial (Silver) Cross was sent to his mother in Rathwell in 1933.

On 9 December 1931, in Treherne, Manitoba, Howard married Evelyn Mae Woodward. Born on 20 April 1912 in nearby Lavenham, Evelyn was the daughter of Thomas Woodward and Mildred Tinning. Her father had been born in England and immigrated to Canada as a child while her mother was from Winnipeg where the couple married on 14 June 1911.

According to his obituary, Howard farmed in Manitoba until 1941 when he was employed by the Bird Construction Company. The family moved to Kenora in 1947 where Howard went to work for the Department of Highways. During WW2 he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps in July of 1941, with discharge in December of 1945. He was a member of the Kenora Branch of the Canadian Legion. Howard and Evelyn gave birth to three daughters, Mildred, Sadie, and Devetta.

Howard died on 4 August 1957 in St Joseph’s Hospital in Kenora. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Evelyn, daughters Mildred and Devetta at home and Sadie (Jim) Morgan in Kenora, his mother Elizabeth in Rathwell, and sisters Annie (Thomas) Perkins of Ocala, Florida, Pearl (Arthur) Pederson of Newdale, Manitoba, and Edith (George) Storry of Cowghin, BC. He was predeceased by his father in 1933 as well as some of his siblings. Howard’s mother later died in 1963. Howard’s wife Evelyn passed away at the Lake of the Woods District Hospital on 20 April 1912 at age 100. Howard and Evelyn are interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.

By Judy Stockham

Photograph of Howard and Evelyn as found on the public Keith Sharpan family tree on ancestry.ca.