Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthFebruary 28, 1898
Place of BirthRat Portage, Ontario
CountryCanada
Marital StatusSingle
Next of KinJohn Kron, father, 525 2nd Avenue South, Kenora, Ontario
Trade / CallingMiscellaneous Aviator Cadet /Clerk
ReligionLutheran
Service Details
Regimental NumberCan 271477
Service RecordSee images below
ForceAir Force
BranchRoyal Air Force (Canada)
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Place of EnlistmentWinnipeg, Manitoba
Date of EnlistmentMay 17, 1918
Age at Enlistment20
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Death Details
Date of DeathOctober 21, 1978
Age at Death80
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
Plot49E-35-1

Kron, Rudolph Ernest

Rudolph Ernest (Rudy) Kron was born on 28 February 1898 in Rat Portage (later renamed Kenora) in northwestern Ontario. His parents John Albert Kron and Emma Matilda Ellison were both from Sweden, marrying on 8 April 1895. John was engaged in the construction and lumbering business and was a contractor for the Rat Portage Lumber Company for a number of years. He later formed the John Kron and Son fuel and cartage business and then branched into the transportation business that served northwestern Ontarion and Manitoba. Children born to the couple were Esther Evelyn (1896-1989), Rudy, Thyra (abt 1903-1975), and Lillian Theresa (1905-1997).

Rudy attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St Peter, Minnesota, a liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Founded in 1862, it valued its Lutheran and Swedish heritages throughout its history. Rudy graduated in 1917 and returned to Kenora.

Rudy attested with the Royal Flying Corps on 17 May 1918 in Winnipeg, the Royal Flying Corps becoming the Royal Air Force a short time later. His occupation was given as Miscellaneous Aviator Cadet /Clerk and his father John in Kenora as next of kin. He was transferred to the Army Reserve, rank of 3rd Air Mechanic. With the end of the war, he was discharged on 14 November 1918 as Cadet Pilot from the Royal Air Force as not finally approved.

Returning to Kenora, in 1921 Rudy and his father formed the beginnings of their business that would grow and expand throughout the years. His three sisters all entered the teaching profession. On 11 August 1928, in Corunna, Ontario, Rudy married Helen Isabel Cowan. Born on 4 October 1902 in the Corunna area, Helen was the daughter of George Cowan and Eva May Johnston. Her parents marrying on 6 April 1899 in Courtright in Ontario, the family farmed in Moore Township near Corunna/Sarnia.

Rudy and Helen were to make Kenora their home, giving birth to three sons, Robert (Bob), John, and Grant. Over the years Rudy was the president of the Kinsmen Club, the Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, the Kenora Thistle Hockey Club as well as membership in the K-40 Club, the Pequonga Lodge No 414, and the Lake of the Woods Shrine Club.

Rudy died on 21 October 1978 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. At the time of his death he was survived by his wife Helen, sons Bob and John of Toronto and Grant of Winnipeg. He was also survived by his sisters Esther Stoltz and Lily of Kenora as well as two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his father John (1961), mother Emma (1968), and sister Thyra (1975). Helen later died on12 September 1981, and together with Rudy is interred in the Lake of the Woods Cemetery in Kenora.

By Judy Stockham

Photograph of Rudy from a Gustavus Adolphus College yearbook as found on ancestry.ca.