Kenora Great War Project

 

Personal Details
Date of BirthSeptember 13, 1899
Place of BirthRat Portage (Kenora), Ontario
CountryCanada
Service Details
ForceAir Force
BranchSoldier Biographies
Enlisted / ConscriptedEnlisted
Theatre of ServiceCanada
Prisoner of WarNo
Survived WarYes
Death Details
Date of DeathJanuary 20, 1963
Age at Death63
Buried AtLake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora, Ontario
PlotRC D - 9

Hook, Douglas Edgar

Douglas Edgar Hook was born on 13 September 1899 in Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario.  His parents were Henry (Harry) Hook and Harriet (Hattie) McGinnis. Henry Hook was an affluent business man who controlled real estate and mining claims in the area. He was manager of Burns and Company, a wholesale meat business. His other children included Annie (b. 1898; married V. Patrick), Keith (1905-1969), Ethel (b. 1907; married Mr. McIntyre) and Audrey (1914-2014; married J. Fraine).

When Douglas turned 18 he enlisted with the Royal Flying Corps.  In April 1918, the local newspaper reported that he had been successful in passing the Medical Board for the RFC.  Details of his service are limited but RAF records indicate that Douglas was discharged in Toronto on 21 November 1918 due to being ‘surplus to RAF requirements’.

The 1921 Canadian census shows Douglas living in Kenora with his parents and siblings, working as an office clerk.  On 23 May 1925 he married Frances Hooper in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They had four children: Elizabeth, Mary Jane, Douglas Keith and James.

For a time Douglas worked scaling timber.  Then he and his brother, Keith, started Hook’s Muskie Camp on Big Narrows, Lake of the Woods.  Some years later, Douglas opened his own camp called Doug Hook’s Separation Lake Lodge.  It was a fly in operation that catered to hunting and fishing clientele.

Douglas died suddenly in Winnipeg on 20 January 1963 and is buried in Lake of the Woods Cemetery, Kenora.


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