Person:Frederick Shinn (1)
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Early lifeWhen he was a year old, Fred Shinn's parents moved from St. Louis, Missouri, to Canada. They first moved to New Hamburg, Ontario, where his mother had spent her teenage years living with her uncle's family, then to Toronto, and later to Amherst, Nova Scotia. In 1895 they settled in Waterloo, Ontario. When he was five, Fred became so seriously ill with scarlet fever that the doctor said he wouldn't survive the night. Later another doctor, treating him for an ear infection, told him he wouldn't survive his teens, and warned against all sporting activities. Despite this, Fred opted to enjoy whatever time was left to him playing baseball, hockey and cricket.
Working lifeHis first job was in his father's furniture and undertaking business. When it was sold in the late 1900's he returned to St. Louis, where he spent three years in an art store. After two years in Toronto, where he worked for the Robert Simpson Co, he became a clerk in the Waterloo Post Office. Five years later he returned to Toronto to work for Dominion Express, which later became the Canadian Pacific Railways. In 1921 he joined the Prudential Insurance Co. and continued with the firm until his retirement in 1950. Later yearsAfter retirement, he spent some time in the city assessment department, bowled 10 pins daily, and wrote a weekly column on local history in the Waterloo Chronicle for several years. He had five children. Note on the nameOn the 1891 census, he is 6 year old Freddie, but on the 1901 census, his name is given as August F. The name given on his marriage certificate is Fred August, and on his tombstone his name is Fred A. Shinn.
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