Personal Details | |
Date of Birth | February 1, 1898 |
Place of Birth | Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Marital Status | Single |
Next of Kin | Alice McKenzie, mother, 2213 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia |
Trade / Calling | Fireman |
Religion | Baptist |
Service Details | |
Regimental Number | 2204797 |
Service Record | |
Battalion | 13th Battalion, CRT |
Force | Canadian Expeditionary Force |
Branch | Canadian Railway Troops |
Enlisted / Conscripted | Enlisted |
Address at Enlistment | 2213 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia |
Date of Enlistment | April 29, 1918 |
Age at Enlistment | 20 |
Theatre of Service | Europe |
Prisoner of War | No |
Survived War | Yes |
Death Details | |
Date of Death | January 1, 1982 |
Age at Death | 84 |
Buried At | Masonic Cemetery of British Columbia, Burnaby, BC |
Plot | 150-1-G |
Stewart Henry McKenzie was born on 1 February 1898 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora), Ontario. His parents George William McKenzie and Alice Althea Alexina Donaldson were both born in Quebec, marrying in Rat Portage on 30 May 1894. It appears that they went back to Quebec for awhile, giving birth to daughter Yolande Violet in June of 1895 in Glen Almond near Alice’s hometown of Buckingham. Returning to Rat Portage they gave birth to Stewart followed by son William in 1899. At the time of the 1901 census for Rat Portage George was working as an engineer. Moving to British Columbia, the family was living in Merritt, Yale and Cariboo for the 1911 census and then moved on to Vancouver.
Stewart signed his attestation papers on 29 April 1918 in Vancouver. At the time he was living on Granville Street and working as a railway fireman. He gave his mother Alice as next of kin. With the 54th Draft of the Railway Construction Corps he arrived in England on the Waimana on 7 July 1918. Taken on strength with the Canadian Railway Troops Depot at Purfleet, Stewart was transferred to the 13th Battalion, CRT in late September, arriving at the unit on 5 October, rank of Sapper. Information about the role of the CRT during the war can be found here. With the end of the war Stewart returned to England in late January of 1919 and embarked for Canada aboard the Empress of Britain on 23 March. He was discharged from service on demobilization on 1 April in Montreal, proposed residence given as Vancouver.
On 27 December 1922, in Vancouver, Stewart married Olive Audrey Lavina McNeill. Born on 29 March 1907 in Star City, Saskatchewan, Olive was the daughter of William Lorne McNeill and Hattie May Coote. At the time of the marriage Stewart was working as a steam shovel and crane operator. The marriage ended in divorce in March of 1940, with Stewart marrying Elizabeth Irene Dick on 11 July of that year. The daughter of Isaac Dick and Margaret Warkentine, Elizabeth was born on 25 March 1919 in Saskatoon according to her death record.
Living on St Patrick Street in Burnaby, Stewart died on 1 January 1982. He was pronounced as dead on arrival at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. According to his death record his occupation for most of his life was a manager for a retail oil and gasoline business. At the time of his death Stewart was survived by his wife Elizabeth, four daughters (likely from his first marriage), a niece and nephew, and grandchildren. He was predeceased by his father George in 1938, mother Alice in 1952, and sister Yolande (Stanley) Murchison in 1954, all in New Westminster and his brother William. George’s wife Elizabeth died on 9 September 1990 in the Burnaby Hospital. George and Elizabeth are interred in the Masonic Cemetery of British Columbia in Burnaby.
By Judy Stockham