Mayor Edward Eidt Ratz

1874 - 1954  (80 years)

• Name	Edward Eidt Ratz
  Prefix	Mayor
  Born	22 Oct 1874	Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  Elected Office	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	alderman - Kitchener
  Occupation	1901	Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  	Saw Miller
  Occupation	1911	Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	Bookkeeper, Forwell Foundry
  Residence	1911	Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2]
  	Evangelical
  Elected Office	1927	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	Mayor - Kitchener
  Name	E. E. Ratz
  Residence	1934	20 Betzner Ave., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-52104
  Died	2 Dec 1954	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I52104	Generations
  Last Modified	30 Sep 2024

  
  

  Father	Henry Ratz,   b. 9 Nov 1830, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 5 Jul 1881  (Age 50 years)
  Mother	Christina Eidt,   b. 30 Jun 1834, , Hesse-Cassel, Germany ,   d. 31 Oct 1887, Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario  (Age 53 years)
  Family ID	F24889	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Bertha Miller,   b. 12 Jul 1883, Milverton, Mornington Twp., Perth Co., Ontario ,   d. 2 Apr 1955  (Age 71 years)
  Married	15 Sep 1926	Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada
  Last Modified	1 Oct 2024
  Family ID	F50561	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	Clara L. Fleischauer,   b. 12 Dec 1873, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 30 Aug 1924  (Age 50 years)
  Last Modified	1 Oct 2024
  Family ID	F186438	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Ratz,EdwardEidt-0001.jpg

  
  

• Notes

  Edward E. Ratz, 80, a former mayor of Kitchener and a partner in the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Service, died June 2 [grave marker is Dec. 2 1954]. He was a Kitchener Alderman from 1917 to 1925 and was mayor in 1927 and 1928. Henry E. Ratz, 77, former Waterloo mayor, alderman, warden, reeve and deputy reeve, died July 29, at his home, 63 Alexandra Ave., Waterloo. He possessed one of the longest civic records in the Twin Cities. "Two Brother Mayors Died in 1954," Waterloo Historical Society, Volume 42 (1954), p. 42 ____________________ Edward E. Ratz, 80, a former mayor of Kitchener, and a partner in the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Service, died last night at K-W Hospital after a brief illness. Mr. Ratz, a resident of Kitchener for the past 46 years, lived at 20 Betzner Ave. He was born Oct. 22, 1874 at Gadshill, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ratz. Was School Teacher He taught school in his native village for three years before opening a combined furniture, funeral directing ad sawmill business in Wellesley. Later he operated sawmills throughout northern Ontario. He was manager of the old Forwell foundry in Kitchener for 12 years. From 1917 to 1925 he was a Kitchener alderman and he was mayor of the city in 1927 and 1928. He was a member of the PUC for several years. He was also chairman of the K-W Hospital Commission. He was a member of the Kitchener Kiwanis Club. Mr. Ratz was a member of Zion Evangelical UB Church and formerly a member of the finance board. At his death, he was a trustee of the church and vice-chairman of the board of administration. He taught Sunday school for more than 25 years. In 1927 he formed the Ratz-Ashcroft Funeral Service and in 1928 combined this with the Bechtel Funeral Service to form the Ratz-Bechtel firm. Married Twice Mr. Ratz was predeceased by his first wife the former Clara Fleischauer, in 1924. He married the former Bertha Miller Sept. 15, 1926. She survives. Also surviving is one sister, Mrs. Emma Sutter of Stratford. The body will be at the Ratz-Bechtel Funeral Home until Sunday at 1 p.m. when removal will be made to Zion Church for funeral service at 2: 30 p.m., conducted by Rev. F. M. Faist, assisted by Rev. G. F. Barthel. Burial will be in Mount Hope Cemetery "E. E. Ratz, Funeral Firm Partner Dies," Kitchener-Waterloo Record, December 3, 1954, Third Page ______________ Hill & Ratz. Here is a firm that conducts as large a business as any other two men in the county. They have a large saw and planing mill, furniture factory and undertaking establishment. They also manufacture sash, doors, blinds, etc. In fact, they are prepared to turn out everything in the wood line required in the building of a house and furnishing it. They also manufacture cheese boxes. Their establishment is equipped with the most modern and up-to-date machinery. Their large wareroom, a short distance from the factory and saw mill, is filled to its utmost capacity with parlor and bedroom sets and other household furniture. They have probably as large and fine a display of the latest styles of furniture as you will find anywhere in the county. In the display is a bedstead that particularly attracted the attention of the writer It was made entirely by Land by one of their workmen. It is an exquisite piece of work, the carving especially showing the taste of a skilled mechanic The undertaking department is supplied with everything necessary for the proper burial of the dead. Messre. Hill & Ratz are energetic young business men, and in the course of a year turn out a vast amount of lumber and furnish the material for a large number of residences throughout this section They also have a fine trade in the furniture line They also deal in shingles, of which they sell many thousands. Mr. Ratz, who was formerly a school teacher, came in as a partner with Mr. Hill last January, has just about completed a handsome, commodious residence in the immediate neighborhood of their works. In locking over their premises I became somewhat surprised, as I was under the impression that a village of not more than eight hundred inhabitants could not afford a manufacturing industry of the extent of that of Messre. Hill & Ratz The saw mill was established by Menno Bechtel in 1876, and who also operated a steam mill. The saw mill still has a large patronage and thousands of logs are annually converted into timber. Waterloo County Chronicle, 14 Jul 1898, p. 8

  
  

• Sources

  [S160] Census - ON, Waterloo, Wellesley Twp. - 1901, Wellesley E-6 Page 16. [S366] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo City - 1911, Div. 43 Pg. 12.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 22 Oct 1874 - Gadshill, North Easthope Twp., Perth Co., Ontario Elected Office - alderman - Kitchener - - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Saw Miller - 1901 - Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - Bookkeeper, Forwell Foundry - 1911 - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Evangelical - 1911 - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Married - 15 Sep 1926 - Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario, Canada Elected Office - Mayor - Kitchener - 1927 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1934 - 20 Betzner Ave., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 2 Dec 1954 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Mount Hope Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth