| Personal Details | |
| Date of Birth | August 18, 1892 |
| Place of Birth | Keewatin, Ontario |
| Country | Canada |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Next of Kin | Katherine Roberts, wife, 283 Des Meurons Street, Norwood, Manitoba |
| Trade / Calling | Clerk |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Service Details | |
| Regimental Number | 2147372 |
| Service Record | |
| Battalion | 34th Fort Garry Horse |
| Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
| Branch | Canadian Cavalry |
| Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
| Date of Enlistment | May 26, 1916 |
| Age at Enlistment | 23 |
| Theatre of Service | Canada |
| Prisoner of War | No |
| Survived War | Yes |
| Death Details | |
| Date of Death | September 28, 1980 |
| Age at Death | 88 |
| Buried At | Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California |
Roberts, George Hugh
George Hugh Roberts was born on 18 August 1892 in Keewatin, Ontario, a small town just west of present day Kenora. His father Owen Ellis Roberts, born in 1858 in Bala, Merionethshire in Wales, immigrated to Canada in 1882, arriving in Quebec on 26 June on the Circassian. He settled in Winnipeg where he married Mary Ann McTaggart on 7 March 1887. Born about 1868, sadly Mary Ann died on 7 February 1888, less than a year after the marriage.
Owen then married Charlotte Fox on 3 October 1889 in Winnipeg. Born about 1865 in England, an age appropriate Charlotte Fox was found on the passenger list of the Parisian that arrived in Halifax on 31 March 1888. Owen and Charlotte gave birth to son Charles Ellis in 1890 in Winnipeg, moving to Keewatin after the 1891 census was taken. The family stayed in Keewatin for close to ten years, also giving birth to son Frederick Owen in March of 1900. Sadly, Charlotte died on 6 January 1901 and is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora. By the next year Owen and the boys were living in Winnipeg where there was another death in the family, son Charles on 6 December.
Owen remarried on 30 June 1904 in Winnipeg, his bride being Elizabeth Emily Humphries who was born about 1863 in Ontario. Over the years in Winnipeg Owen worked as a shipper/warehouseman for a flour mill.
Along with his brother Frederick, George’s attestation papers indicated that he enlisted with the 34th Fort Garry Horse Service Squadron on 26 May 1916 in Winnipeg. His occupation was given as clerk and his father Owen as next of kin, later changed. A short time later, on 22 August 1916 in St Boniface, George married Katherine Theodora Pankrath. Born on 19 November 1898 in Samara, Russia, Kate was the daughter of Friedrich Pankrath and Emma Heber, various spellings of both surnames found. The family had immigrated to Canada in 1904. After her father’s death in 1914, her mother later married Ernest Rach in October of 1916. George and Katherine gave birth to daughter Bernice Charlotte on 15 September 1917.
George was to serve for the duration of the war in Canada. Although the attestation date was given as 1916, his service record showed he had had his medical examination at Camp Sewell on 6 September 1915, with service starting on the 29th. That November he was promoted to Orderly Room Sergeant. In mid May of 1919 George was transferred to the Canadian Army Pay Corps, 10th Detachment as Pay Sergeant. He was discharged from service on demobilization on 25 October 1919 in Winnipeg.
For the 1921 census George, Katherine, and Bernice were living in an apartment on Agnes Street in Winnipeg in the same building as his brother Frederick and family. At the time George working as a bookkeeper in a lumber company office. Later Voters lists in Winnipeg recorded his occupation as accountant. In 1947 the family moved to Inglewood, California where George’s brother Frederick and family were living. George’s petition for naturalization was granted in 1953.
George died on 28 September 1980 in Inglewood. He was predeceased by his wife Katherine earlier that month on the 3rd. He was also predeceased by mother Charlotte, brother Charles, stepmother Elizabeth Emily (1937) and father Owen (1938), the latter two in Winnipeg, and his brother Frederick (1961) in Inglewood. His daughter Bernice (Ray) Chapman later died in 2001. George and Katherine as well as Bernice and Frederick and his wife Doris are all interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery.
By Judy Stockham
Grave marker photo by BJ Waters, findagrave.com
