Waterloo Region Generations
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Alvin Ratz "A. R." Kaufman

Alvin Ratz "A. R." Kaufman[1]

Male 1885 - 1979  (93 years)

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  • Name Alvin Ratz "A. R." Kaufman 
    Born 11 Feb 1885  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 3, 4, 5, 6] 
    Gender Male 
    FindAGrave https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138950881 
    Residence 1891  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Evangelical 
    Occupation 1901  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [2] 
    Student 
    Occupation 1911  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Manufacturer 
    Residence 1911  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Evangelical 
    Occupation 1921  Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Rubber Manufacturer 
    Residence 1921  Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Evangelical 
    Died 1 Feb 1979  Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [6] 
    Buried 4 Feb 1979  Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 7] 
    Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region Bef 2012  , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [8] 
    industrialist and philanthropist 
    Interesting charity, story, medical 
    Name A. R. Kaufman 
    Eby ID Number Waterloo-39424 
    Person ID I39424  Generations
    Last Modified 9 Jun 2025 

    Father Jacob S. Kaufman,   b. 1847, , Germany Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 20 Apr 1920, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 73 years) 
    Mother Mary Ratz,   b. 14 Dec 1856, Woolwich Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 24 Dec 1943  (Age 87 years) 
    Married 5 Mar 1877  North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [5, 9] 
    Family ID F10299  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Jane Helen "Jean" Hutton,   b. 25 Oct 1886, Port Elgin, Saugeen Twp., Bruce Co., Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 6 May 1971, RR2, Waterloo, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 84 years) 
    Married 12 Aug 1911  Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  [10] 
    Children 
     1. Helen Mary Kaufman,   b. 1915, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. Yes, date unknown
     2. William Hutton Kaufman,   b. 1919, , Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Edward Kaufman,   b. 10 Nov 1923, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 12 Nov 1923, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 0 years)
    Last Modified 10 Jun 2025 
    Family ID F258988  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 2 Charlotte Elspeth "Beth" Hall,   b. 9 Oct 1912,   d. 30 Aug 1972  (Age 59 years) 
    Last Modified 10 Jun 2025 
    Family ID F259151  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 3 Ruth,   b. CA 1900,   d. Yes, date unknown 
    Last Modified 10 Jun 2025 
    Family ID F259152  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Photos
    Alvin Ratz Kaufman    		Alvin Ratz Kaufman
    from Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

  • Notes 
    • Alvin Ratz Kaufman

      Kitchener industrialist and family-planning pioneer, died Thursday, at his home at 516 Woolwich St., Waterloo. He was 93. Controversy and criticism had swirled around much of his business and civic career, but he remained undaunted. He remained an austere, almost aloof figure, both loved for his good works and hated for his unbending stand against unions. His philanthropy extended to the City of Kitchener, the K-W, YMCA, the YWCA and his church. During his 40 years as a member of the Kitchener parks board, he donated to the city one major park, Kaufman and two small parks, Hillside and Huron. He gave both time and money to the YMCA and the YWCA and is credited with contributing most of the money for the two downtown Kitchener Y buildings. In 1968, Kaufman and his family donated a 41/2 acre site for the Waterloo Family Y on Lincoln Road. Kaufman was a member of Kitchener's Zion United Church where he was superintendent of the junior Sunday school for 20 years and chairman of the church music committee. One of Kaufman's more publicized claims to fame was his breaking of a violent 71/2-week-long strike of unionized employees during the summer of 1960. When the strike ended, Kaufman announced that strikers would not find work when they returned. It wasn't the first walkout at his plant. In 1937, a United Rubber Workers (URW) strike against Kaufman collapsed after two weeks, but the industrialist kept the plant closed for four weeks after it ended. The URW was granted bargaining rights in 1945 and for many years was not able to win a contract despite a series of organizing attempts.

      Kaufman was a pioneer in planned parenthood, which he always regarded as his greatest philanthropic work. His interest in family planning was aroused by the Depression. His company had to discharge employees, many of whom had large families and pleaded for personal help. The company nurse, at his suggestion, recommended sterilization for the more desperate cases and the use of contraceptives to others. Request for family planning advice soon came from across Canada, resulting in the establishment in 1931 of the Parents Information Bureau Ltd., which still operates. Kaufman spent almost $1 million promoting birth control, both on this continent and in the Far East, and also sponsored experimental clinics in India. In 1931, he hired 75 women across Canada as social workers and offered through them free birth control information and contraceptives at cost. These activities were challenged unsuccessfully under the obscenity provisions of the Criminal Code in a celebrated court case in 1936. Kaufman was chairman of the Kitchener planning board for 39 years and also the first chairman of the K-W suburban planning board.

      His father, Jacob, was one of the originators of the rubber industry in Kitchener. He had interests in both the Berlin Rubber Co. and Merchants Rubber Co., forerunners of Uniroyal Ltd. He ran the family company for more than 50 years until 1965 when he turned over the presidency to his son, William. In 1965, he was selected the eighth Citizen of the Year by the K-W Junior Chamber of Commerce and in 1973, the Waterloo county board of education named a Kitchener school after him. For many years, he was president of Superior Box Co. Ltd., now part of Domtar, and was a director of Kaufman Furniture Co., Collingwood, which he organized in 1947. Following the death of his first wife, the former Jean Helen Hutton, in 1971, Kaufman established the A.R. Kaufman Charitable Foundation. The residues of both his and her estates will go to the foundation to be devoted to charitable activities. His second wife, the former Mrs. C. Elspeth (Beth) Hall, died suddenly in 1972, after only five months of marriage. His third wife, Ruth, the former Mrs. Paul Samson, lives at a nursing home in Massachusetts. Also surviving are one brother, two sisters, one son and two daughters. The funeral will be conducted at Zion Church Sunday at 3 p.m.

      Kitchener-Waterloo Record 2 Feb 1979 pg 1

  • Sources 
    1. [S2858] z Vit - ON - Birth Registration, birth certificate 036633 (1885).
      Name:Alvin Kaufman Date of Birth:11 Feb 1885 Gender:Male Birth Place:Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Father's name:Jacob Kaufman Mother's name:Mary Ratz

    2. [S137] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1901, Berlin (Town/Ville) A-12 Page 4.

    3. [S340] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1911, Div. 37 Page 2.

    4. [S2088] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo North - 1921, Sud District 3 - Lexington 1921 Page 15.

    5. [S1592] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1891, Section 1 Page 52.

    6. [S3226] Woodland Cemetery, Kitchener.
      [Large stone] A. R. Kaufman
      [A] Jean Helen Kaufman/ Oct. 25, 1886-May 6, 1971
      [B] Alvin Ratz/ Kaufman/ Feb. 11, 1885-Feb. 1, 1979
      [C] Charlotte Elspeth/ Kaufman/ Oct. 9, 1912-Aug. 30, 1972

    7. [S3231] Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138950881.

    8. [S220] Waterloo Region Hall of Fame Waterloo Region Hall of Fame.

    9. [S721] Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, marriage certificate 8940 (1877), Jacob Kaufmann-Mary Ratz.
      Jacob Kaufmann, lumber dealer of Gadshill, Ontario, Birth Place: Germany Age: 29 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1848 Father Name: Joseph Kaufmann Mother Name: Annie Kaufmann Spouse Name: Mary Ratz, residence Gadshill, Spouse's Age: 20 Spouse Estimated Birth Year: abt 1857 Spouse Birth Place: Woolwich Ont Spouse Father Name: Henry Ratz Spouse Mother Name: Christian Ratz Marriage Date: 5 Mar 1877 Marriage Place: Perth, North Easthope

    10. [S2488] aaa Vit - ON - Marriage Registration, marriage certificate.
      Name:Alvin Ratz Kaufman Marriage Date:12 Aug 1911 Marriage Place:Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Father:Kaufman Mother:Kaufman Spouse:Jean Helen Hutton

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBorn - 11 Feb 1885 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Evangelical - 1891 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Student - 1901 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Manufacturer - 1911 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Evangelical - 1911 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarried - 12 Aug 1911 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsOccupation - Rubber Manufacturer - 1921 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Evangelical - 1921 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDied - 1 Feb 1979 - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBuried - 4 Feb 1979 - Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsHall of Fame - Waterloo Region - industrialist and philanthropist - Bef 2012 - , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 


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