Waterloo Region Generations
A record of the people of Waterloo Region, Ontario.

Joseph C. Fretz

Male 1885 - 1956  (70 years)


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  • Name Joseph C. Fretz 
    Born 25 Sep 1885  Markham, York Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Occupation 1938  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location 
    book store owner 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-69381 
    Died 22 Aug 1956 
    Buried Wideman Mennonite Cemetery, Markham, York Co., Ontario Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I69381  Generations
    Last Modified 6 Apr 2024 

  • Notes 
    • Joseph Cober ("J. C.") Fretz: historian and church leader; born 25 September 1885 in Markham, Ontario to Manasseh and Mary Ann (Cober) Fretz. He was the oldest child in a family of eight sons and four daughters. On 18 March 1918 he married Martha Reesor (1888-1960). They had two sons and two daughters. Joseph died 22 August 1956 of a heart attack while in his car. He was buried in the Wideman cemetery in Markham, Ontario.

      In addition to the usual primary and secondary school education in Markham, Joseph Fretz obtained normal school training and graduated from Goshen College in Indiana. He taught in public primary schools in Ontario for about twenty years at a variety of locations, including Scotia Junction, Rainham Centre, the Rittenhouse School in Vineland, Merriton and at Baden.

      J.C. Fretz also encouraged the distribution of Christian Mennonite literature. In 1938 when the Mennonite Publishing House of Scottdale, Pennsylvania purchased the privately-owned Golden Rule Book Store in Kitchener . Joseph Fretz became the manager, a position he held until September, 1953. During these years the Publishing House built a new bookstore in downtown Kitchener and Fretz traveled widely through Canadian Mennonite communities to solicit business for the Publishing House and the store

      Steiner, Sam. "Fretz, Joseph C. (1885-1956)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. February 2002. Web. 25 February 2011. https://www.gameo.org/encyclopedia/contents/F7483.html.

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 25 Sep 1885 - Markham, York Co., Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - book store owner - 1938 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
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