Edgar Jack Koehler

1920 - 2006  (86 years)

• Name	Edgar Jack Koehler
  Born	1920	of, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Military	WW2 -
  	wounded in France.
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-166871
  Died	2006
  Person ID	I166871	Generations
  Last Modified	19 Dec 2024

  
  

  Father	Koehler
  Family ID	F47901	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Edgar "Jack" Koehler Memory stone outside of Wellesley Library in Wellesley, Ontario

  
  

• Notes

  Major bequest helps float Wellesley Historical Society Township receives $340,000 from estate of Kitchener man with ties to the community At one point looking like it was going to go the way of the dodo, the Wellesley Historical Society was recently afforded two strokes of luck: the first was boosted membership: the second. a massive gift by a man with strong ties to the town-ship. Jack Edgar Koehler's $340,000 bequest to the society caused quite a stir. "This is probably the single largest bequest that has ever been made to the township: it is significant. it is a ma-jor contribution to the municipality" chief administrative officer Susan Duke told the Observer. Last week, the township received no-tification from Miller Thompson and TD Waterhouse that it had been named as a beneficiary of the estate of Jack Edgar Koehler. who died Nov 19. 2006: a sum of $340,000. which is to be used for historical purposes, has since been deposited into a new account. While council will have the final say over how the money is used, decisions will be made in close consultation with the historical society Wellesley staff will devise a set of policies regarding distribution of the funds. Staff will also study how to properly recognize Koehler: one suggestion is using the name "Koehler" in nam-ing streets for a new subdivision in Wellesley. Little about Koehler's life is known to staff: less is known about the reasons for his bequest. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of reason other than the fact that his family was here and his ancestral fam-ily was here and he vis-ited this area as a child." said Duke, noting that she gleaned this information from a source close to Koe-hler. who did not want his identity divulged. 'It's very difficult some-times to understand what motivates people to do the things that they do towards the latter part of their lives. We just hap-pen to be extremely fortu-nate that Mr. Koehler con-sidered Wellesley highlyenough to make this kind of a bequest." In a report to council Tuesday night. Duke noted that Koehler though a resident of Kitchener, had come to the area as a child and had developed strong memories and bonds with family and friends in the community Koe-hler's great grandpar-ents immigrated to Canada from Germany and settled in the area north of Bamberg (Hes-sen Strasse). Koehler's grandfather, Heinrich Koehler Jr.,lived with his parents on the Wellesley Section Line. Koehler's great aunt, Katherine Koehler mar-ried John G Reiner. -Builder of Wellesley" who. during his career had been credited with building some 32 structures in the village. The original Reiner home is located on Doer-ing Street in Wellesley and is known locally as the Schmehl residence. This property was desig-nated under the Ontario Heritage Act. Jack Koehler lived in Kitchener and in the 1940s enlisted and went over-seas and was wounded in action in France. Upon re-turning home, he stayed active in the services as a recruiting officer. Koehler's bequest came as a boon to the township and its historical society "It's worth saying that the historical and heri-tage society was [close] to folding; and had we fold-ed, we would have missed out on this," quipped Mayor Ross Kelterborn. highlighting the positive irony in having rescued a group that looked on the verge of extinction. The Observer - November 3, 2007

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1920 - of, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth