Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthJune 7, 1891
Place of BirthTunadel, Skön, Västernorrland
CountrySweden
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinGustav Noreus, father, Norman PO, Ontario
Trade / CallingBookkeeper
ReligionBaptist
Service Details
Regimental Number2381954
Service Record
Battalion1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment
ForceCanadian Expeditionary Force
BranchCanadian Infantry
Enlisted / ConscriptedConscripted
Address at Enlistment457 Banning Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentApril 16, 1918
Age at Enlistment26
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathAugust 12, 1939
Age at Death48
Buried AtMount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, Ontario
PlotSection 18 Lot 9965

Noreus, Alfred Felix

Felix Alfhild Noréus was born on 7 June 1891 in the parish of Tunadal in Skön, Västernorrland, Sweden. Once in Canada he went by the name of Alfred Noreus. Alfred’s father Gustav Noréus was born in 1859 in Nordmaling in Västerbotten while his mother Emma Lovisa Lindgren (aka Svensdotter), born in 1861, had her birth registered in both Fredrika, Västerbotten and in Mo, Västernorrland. The couple married on 5 August 1883 in Mo. By the time of the birth of their first child Johan Arvid in 1884, the family was living in Tunadal where Gustav was working as an arbetare (labourer). Children born in Tunadal were Arvid, Gustaf Albert (1885), Ruth Alexi (1886), Judith Paulina (1889), and Alfred. Along with Gustav’s brother Johan, Johan’s wife and their children, the family immigrated to Canada in 1893. Leaving Tunadal on May 26th, they embarked from Göteberg for Hull, England aboard the Romeo on June 9th, final destination given as Winnipeg, Manitoba on the passenger list. Then embarking from Liverpool for Canada aboard the Vancouver, the family arrived in Quebec on the 24th of June. Sadly daughter Ruth died in Winnipeg that August.

The Noreus family settled in the village of Norman near Kenora in northwestern Ontario where Gustav worked as a labourer at one or more of the local saw mills, at one point foreman of the yard. Children born in Canada were Verna Annie (1894), Arnold Eugene (1896), Ingeborg (1898-1898), Carl Axel (1900), Esther Allida (1903), Nora Linnea (1905), and Arthur Hilding (December 1908-June 1909).

With the onset of conscription in the latter part of the war, Alfred was called up for service on 16 April 1918 in Winnipeg. Having had his medical examination the previous October, he was rated as category B2 likely due to a congenital right flat foot (fit for non-combatant service overseas in base units of the medical service, garrison or regimental outdoor work). At the time of signing his recruitment papers, he was living in Winnipeg and working as a bookkeeper. He gave his father in Norman as next of kin and place of birth as Sundsvall, a city close to where he was born. Assigned as a Private to the 1st Depot Battalion, Manitoba Regiment, Alfred was later discharged from service due to demobilization and being lower than category A on 6 December 1918 in Winnipeg. Upon discharge his character and conduct were described as good and his intended residence as Banning Street in Winnipeg. Alfred’s brother Arnold was called up for service in May of 1918 and served in England with the 18th Reserve Battalion

On 26 June 1924, in Winnipeg, Alfred married Viola Belle Watson. Born on 21 February 1892 in Port Arthur, Ontario, Viola was the daughter of William Edward Watson and Maude Anne Boyle. By the time of the 1916 census she had been living in Winnipeg and working as a stenographer for a construction company. At some point after the marriage Alfred and Viola moved to Toronto. It appears that the couple did not have any children.

Following a brief illness, Alfred died on 12 August 1939 in Toronto. He was survived by his wife Viola, parents Gustav and Emma in Norman, brothers Arvid in Vancouver, Albert in Chicago, and Axel in Winnipeg, as well as sisters Judith (Nils Gottfrid) Nelson of Kenora, Verna (Andrew) Horngren of St Paul, Minnesota, Esther (Conrad) Anderson and Nora (Harry) Nymark, the latter two of Dryden, Ontario. He was predeceased by siblings Ruth, Ingeborg, and Arthur in infancy or childhood and Arnold in 1927. His wife Viola died on 2 April 1975 in Toronto.

Alfred’s mother Emma later died in 1939 and his father Gustav in 1940. His siblings Albert died in 1953 (Kenora), Judith Nelson in 1954 (Kenora), Arvid in 1971 (Burnaby, BC), Esther Anderson in 1976 (Dryden), Axel in 1983 (Toronto), Verna Olson in 1989 (Minneapolis/St Paul), and Nora Nymark in 1996 (Dryden).

Alfred and Viola are interred in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.

By Judy Stockham

Grave marker photo courtesy of LMK on findagrave.com
Photograph of Alfred and his brother Arnold provided by Lori Nelson

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