Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | September 22, 1895 |
Place of Birth | Glenella, Manitoba |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | Ellen McGuffin, mother, Glenella PO, Manitoba |
Trade / Calling | Farmhand |
Religion | Methodist |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 3348650 |
Service Record | Link to Service Record |
Battalion | 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Infantry |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Conscripted |
Date of Enlistment | July 31, 1918 |
Age at Enlistment | 22 |
Theatre of Service | Canada |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | February 26, 1962 |
Age at Death | 66 |
Buried At | Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario |
Plot | 7BE-10-4 |
Emery Gordon McGuffin was born on 22 September 1895 in the Glenella, Manitoba area (birth registered in the RM of Lansdowne). His parents John McGuffin and Ellen Sugden were both from West Nissouri, Middlesex, Ontario as given on their marriage record of 10 April 1888 in nearby Thorndale. Around 1894 John and Ellen moved to the Glenella area to farm. Children born in Manitoba were Gordon, Mina Hazel (1898), and Verna Ellen Alfreda (1903).
With the onset of conscription in the latter part of the war, Gordon was called up on 31 July 1918 in Winnipeg, having his medical examination the same day. His occupation was given as farm hand and his mother Ellen at the Glenella Post Office as next of kin. As a Private with the 1st Depot Battalion Manitoba Regiment, Gordon was given a conditional leave and then was struck off strength on return to Registrar’s Records and discharged on 19 August 1918.
Gordon and his parents moved to Kenora, Ontario in 1924. By the time of the move his sisters had married, Mina to Andrew Morden in 1920 in Glenella and Verna to Herbert Howard in 1924 in Gladstone. On 11 May 1927, in Kenora, Gordon married Adella Mary Margaret Broughton. Born on 27 November 1906 in the RM of Hamiota, Adella was the daughter of James Broughton and Theresa McWade. Her parents had married in 1904 in Neepawa, Manitoba but the family was eventually to make Brandon their home. At the time of Gordon and Adella’s marriage both were living in Kenora with Gordon’s occupation given as millhand on the marriage record.
Gordon worked for the Ontario-Minnesota Pulp and Paper Company in the sulphite mill from 1925 until his retirement in 1961. He and Adella gave birth to four children: Violet Iris (stillborn 1929), Melvin (1931-1996), Ronald (1932-2007), and Joan. Gordon was a member of the Pulp and Sulphite Union No 133 and Knox United Church. Fond of all sports, his hobbies were fishing, hunting, bowling, and hockey.
Gordon died on 26 February 1962 in the Kenora General Hospital. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Adella, sons Melvin and Roland, and daughter Mrs Joan (Don) Reynard, all of Kenora. He was predeceased by his father John in 1939 and his mother Ellen in 1945, both interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora. Adella later died on 2 July 1989 in Langley, BC. His sister Mina died in 1963, interred in the Souris Greenwood Cemetery in Manitoba while his sister Verna died in 1995 in Langley, interred in the Neepawa Cemetery, also in Manitoba. Gordon and Adella are interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.
By Judy Stockham
photos of Gordon and family: as found on a number of family trees on ancestry.ca including neulsfarm as the primary one