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NORMAN KENNEDY RINKER
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 24 February 1921]
A few items from the personal life of the late Norman Kennedy Rinker are here recorded. Norman has been practically all his life a resident of Welland County, having been born in Pelham Township on October 24th, 1897. His grandparents and parents were long residents of Pelham. His great grandparents were United Empire Loyalists. He attended Welland High School for a number of years. Norman K. Rinker, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Rinker, Randolph St., was well-known in local and Detroit musical circles. He was a member of the Detroit Confederation of Music. He was a great lover of a piano and spent a large portion of his time at the keys. He was a member of the Firgels’ thirty-five piece orchestra in Detroit. He also played in and was a member of Cowell’s Orchestra of Detroit. He passed his musical examination in Toronto Conservatory. Though an electrician, by occupation, it had been his intention to adopt music as a profession. Of a studious nature he had taken out an extensive course in LaSalle University. He had lived in Detroit for two years, having returned to Welland only a short time previous to the tragedy which cost him his life.
Of a quiet and likeable disposition Norman was loved by the community. He was a great lover of the out-doors. He was a devotee of open-air sports and delighted in rambles in the woods. He was for three or four years a player on the Page-Hersey Baseball team, who more than once won honors on the field. He was one of the good basketball players on the Y.M.C.A. team. He revelled in the prospects of a good skate on the river, which so sadly caused his demise.
During the late war Norman, at the age of sixteen, attempted to enlist with the Second Dragoons under Major Sharpe, but was rejected in consideration of his age. He also attempted to enlist again before the age of eighteen but it was not until May 29th, 1918 that he was successful in joining the colors, when he enlisted with the Royal Air Force.
He was a lad who left behind him an untarnished reputation.
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