Owen Thamer

1896 - 1953  (57 years)

• Name	Owen Thamer
  Born	27 Jan 1896	New Dundee, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Gender	Male
  Residence	1911	New Dundee, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	United Brethren
  Military	1914	WW1   [6]
  	WW1, Dominion Signaller, R. F. C.
  Military	1914	WW1   [4]
  	WW1, Service #751432
  Occupation	1921	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	Operator, Hydro Electric
  Residence	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [6]
  Residence	New Dundee, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  Residence	20 Alma St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  Residence	1921	67 Samuel St., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Residence	1921	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	Methodist
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-75673
  Died	22 Jun 1953	, San Diego Co., California   [5]
  Buried	Greenwood Memorial Park, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States   [5]
  Person ID	I75673	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	Ezra Thamer,   b. 14 Aug 1866, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. May 1957, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 90 years)
  Mother	Lucinda Fried,   b. 5 Apr 1865, Blenheim Twp., Oxford Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1940  (Age 74 years)
  Married	1 Jan 1889	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [7]
  Family ID	F6452	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Stella Worden,   b. 30 Jan 1896, Downie Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. Nov 1981, , Utah, USA  (Age 85 years)
  Children	1. Burton Thamer,   b. 1930,   d. 1999  (Age 69 years)
  Last Modified	12 Nov 2024
  Family ID	F243856	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Flash from the Past: RFC flyer in training visits hometown 'by mistake' by rych mills Waterloo Region Record Today's subject began his life in New Dundee. That's where Owen Thamer's parents, Rev. Ezra H. and Lucinda (Fried) Thamer put down roots, raising three daughters and four sons above the family's general store. Originally owned by James Wing, the shop at 190 Main St. was purchased by Ezra outright in 1904 and he then installed New Dundee's first Bell Telephone exchange. As a sideline, Ezra operated a small creamery in the cellar. Proving an unsuccessful butter maker, he sold the idle equipment and donated the basement space for a year to a group of shareholders calling itself the New Dundee Co-Operative Creamery Limited. That was the 1908 foundation of what became New Dundee's largest industry. Soon, a large factory was erected, and by the 1930s, it was Ontario's largest butter producer. In 1998, the creamery closed, ending nine decades of employment for generations of New Dundee-ites. But, back to the Thamers. Selling the store in 1911, Ezra, Lucinda and several of the children moved to 20 Alma St. in Berlin (Charles Street East in 2018, site of the Crowne Plaza parking garage). Less than a block away, Ezra and second son Franklin opened E.H. Thamer & Son men's furnishings shop at 96 King East at Scott (2018's Waterloo Region Record office site). Third son Owen had been born in 1896, and when the opening salvoes of the First World War were fired, he was 18 and a half. The Thamer brothers, like most Canadian men in their teens/early 20s, inexorably became part of the First World War.... Owen, the younger brother, didn't enlist immediately but had flying in his blood and signed with the Royal Flying Corps. Following aviation courses at the University of Toronto, he was assigned to Aviation School at Camp Borden. Early on May 10, 1917, a curious incident in Kitchener attracted hundreds of spectators as well as front-page coverage in both local daily newspapers. Flight Cadet Owen Thamer took off alone in his JN-4 Canuck two-seat training aircraft, ostensibly heading for Owen Sound. Claiming to have become lost in the clouds, he travelled via Georgetown, Hamilton, Brantford, Galt and, surprise, 115 miles later, ended up in his hometown of Kitchener. At 7: 15 a.m., early-rising people in the east ward were surprised to hear a low-flying airplane circle and land on Alderman Sam Brubacher's farm field, near today's Weber/Pandora intersection. Coincidentally (or not), in the previous day's Kitchener Daily Telegraph, Ezra said a landing place had been picked out should his son fly in for a visit! A phone call to Camp Borden resulted in an order for Owen to stay grounded until his instructor, Flight-Lieutenant Watson (or was it Wilson? each newspaper had a different name) could fly to Kitchener and escort him back. Alas, Wilson/Watson's plane cracked up on landing but, luckily, neither he nor his accompanying mechanic was injured. Since Thamer's airplane was not damaged, Watson/Wilson flew it back next morning to Camp Borden. Thamer caught a train back to base after a day in his hometown.... mills, r. (2018). Flash from the Past: RFC flyer in training visits hometown 'by mistake'. KitchenerPost.ca. Retrieved 7 September 2018, from https://www.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/8881658-flash-from-the-past-rfc-flyer-in-training-visits-hometown-by-mistake-/

  
  

• Sources

  [S133] Census - ON, Waterloo, Wilmot - 1901, Wilmot H-2 Page 5. [S346] Census - ON, Waterloo, Wilmot - 1911, Div. 12 Page 6. [S2264] Census - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - 1921, Sub Dist. 30 Page 16. [S157] Military - Canada - World War I - Attestation papers. [S3231] Find A Grave, Park, G., America, N., County, S., Diego, S., & Park, G. (1896). Owen Thamer (1896-1953) - Find A Grave Memorial. Findagrave.com. Retrieved 7 September 2018, from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/152586911/owen-thamer. [S2231] Military - Kitchener Public Library - Soldier Information Card Collection - World War One. [S1338] News - ON, Waterloo, Cambridge - Galt Reporter (1846-1973), marriage notice of Ezra Thamer & Lucinda Fried - Jan 11 1889 pg 8.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 27 Jan 1896 - New Dundee, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - United Brethren - 1911 - New Dundee, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Operator, Hydro Electric - 1921 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - - New Dundee, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Methodist - 1921 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 22 Jun 1953 - , San Diego Co., California Buried - - Greenwood Memorial Park, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States  = Link to Google Earth