Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthMarch 19, 1894
Place of BirthKenora, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinJE Budreau, father, Morson, Ontario
Trade / CallingElectrician
ReligionMethodist
Service Details
Regimental Number820364
Service Record Link to Service Record
Battalion1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Date of EnlistmentMarch 6, 1916
Age at Enlistment22
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathSeptember 5, 1949
Age at Death55
Buried AtElmwood Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Plot14A-G0134X

Budreau, Frederick

Although he gave his birth place as Kenora on his attestation papers, Frederick Budreau was likely born in the nearby village of Norman on 19 March 1894. His father Joseph Ebenezer Budreau, the son of French Canadians, was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, while his mother Mary Forest Hackett was born in Pennsylvania. Mary’s father Luther was from New Hampshire while her mother Elizabeth was from Connecticut, the family later relocating to Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora). Joseph and Mary married in 1888 in Norman, and gave birth to son Laurence later that year. Other children born in Norman were John Luther (1890), Elizabeth (1892), and Fred. While living in Norman Joseph worked as a lumberman and contractor.

At some point after the birth of Fred the Budreaus moved down to the southern end of Lake of the Woods to operate Budreau’s Fishery. The 1901 census for the area, aptly named Budreau’s Fishery, had an enumerated population of 242. The settlement included a number of fishermen as well as lumbermen, cooks for the camps, contractors, lighthouse keepers, farmers, a blacksmith, a carpenter, engineers, steam boat captain, pilot, and mariner, gold miners, and a school teacher. Budreau’s fishing grounds were north and south of Burton Island (near Sable Island and the Big Traverse) and Joseph’s operation was located at Stephen’s Point near the mouth of Rainy River. Today Budreau’s Beach commemorates the Budreau family.

With occupation given as electrician and his next of kin as his father JE Budreau in Morson, a community near the fisheries, Fred signed his attestation papers with the 141st Battalion in Rainy River on 6 March 1916. After serving for 9 months, he was later found medically unfit and discharged on 12 December of the same year in Port Arthur, Ontario. Fred next signed recruitment papers in Winnipeg, Manitoba on 7 December 1917 with the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment. At the time he had been living in Rainy River and working as an electrician. Noted in his file was his history of pulmonary tuberculosis and his medical category was given as E, unlikely to become fit for service. On 6 January 1918 Fred was granted a special leave of absence until Category E was called up for service. In July Fred was struck off strength on return to Registrar and then discharged from service on August 27th.

It appears that shortly after the end of the war Fred moved to Winnipeg. On 28 April 1933, in Winnipeg, he married Mary Netanus Kerr. Born in 1897 in Plumas, Manitoba, Mary was the daughter of farmer William Kerr and Alma Dauncey. Mary had moved to Glenella in 1916 to attend Normal School and after graduation taught for five years. She then trained for a career in nursing, graduating in 1926 as an RN. She worked at the Winnipeg General Hospital until joining the staff at Deer Lodge Hospital in 1929. It appears that Fred and Mary did not have any children.

Fred died on 5 September 1949 in Deer Lodge Hospital. He was predeceased by his mother Mary in 1911 and his father Joseph in 1929, both interred in the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Rainy River. Fred’s Veteran’s Death card listed his wife Mary of 282 Bannerman Avenue in Winnipeg as next of kin. He was also survived by his brother John of Kenora, brother Laurence of Winnipeg, and sister Elizabeth (Herbert) Johnson of British Columbia. John later died in 1953 in Rainy River and Elizabeth in 1982 in Powell River, British Columbia. Fred’s wife Mary died at Heritage Lodge in Winnipeg in August of 1983 and is interred with Fred in Elmwood Cemetery, Winnipeg.

by Judy Stockham

gravemarker photo: courtesy of Dave and Janice, findagrave.com

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