Doerr Family

The Doerr Family were, and still are, well known in the Bienfait area.
This is the family tree and Bio of the family as far as I have been able to trace.
The start of the family was in Germany, then Ontario, then Bienfait for some.

Oldest Generation of the Doerr family known

Caspar Doerr who married Margaretha Doerr, nee ?

They had one son I know of:

John Doerr,
b- Mar 15, 1835 in Hessen Darnstadt, Germany
d- Aug 17, 1912 in Shakespeare, South Easthope Twp, Perth Co., Ontario
died age 77
occupation 1901- Shoemaker, Lutheran Religion
1868 living in Shakespeare, ON
1861 census in South Easthope, ON, single age 25
son of Caspar Doerr, and Margaretha Doerr, nee ?
age 33 when he married Aug 27, 1868, in Perth Co., ON

John married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Doerr, nee Hill
b- Aug 20, 1845 in Germany
d- Mar 19, 1925, Stratford, Perth Co., Ontario
age 22 when she married
daughter of Johannes Hill and Catharina Hill, nee ?

All of John Doerr's family living at Easthope South, Perth South, Ontario in 1881

John and Elizabeth had 8 children

1. Gustav Doerr (Aug. Chas. Doerr in one record)
b- Nov 9, 1869 in Shakespeare ON
d- Dec 15, 1927 at 20 McKenzie Street, Stratford, Perth Co., ON

2. Annie Doerr
b- abt 1871 ON

3. Henry Doerr
b- abt 1873 in ON

4. Jacob Emil Doerr
b- May 15, 1875 in Shakespeare ON.
d-

5. Matilda “Lillie”“Tillie” Doerr
b- abt 1877 in ON

6. Valentine “Val” Frederick Doerr
b- Oct 4, 1879 in Shakespeare, Ontario
d- June 5, 1968

7. John Doerr
b- abt 1881 in ON

8. Arthur Doerr,son age 10, Aurtha Doerr shows up in 1891 census
Arthur “Art” Doerr lived at Hespeler SK in 1968

1. Gustav Doerr (Aug. Chas. Doerr in one record)
b- Nov 9, 1869 in Shakespeare ON
d- Dec 15, 1927 at 20 McKenzie Street, Stratford, Perth Co., ON
Butcher, age 21, in Shakespeare ON when he married
Lutheran, German
married Matilda Nau July 29, 1890 in Shakespeare
age 20 when she married
daughter of Nicolaus and Mary Nau

4. Jacob Emil Doerr
b- May 15, 1875 in Shakespeare ON.
d-
Barrister in Winnipeg, age 32 when he married
came to Manitoba in 1898
part of Doerr and Guggisberg, barristers, Northern Crown Bank Chambers, Regina SK, 1907
1912 he ran for Mayor of Regina and lost, he was Alderman of Ward 4, before this.
Chairman of the 1911 City of Regina Waterworks Committee
which was a disaster to the City per newspaper articles.
1942 he was the Electoral Officer in Regina.

Emil married Rachel Anice Locke, Sept 7, 1907 at Sydenham
b- in Sydenham, Grey Co. ON
d-
Age 29 when she got married
daughter of Walter Locke and Anice Raney
Walter Locke was a farmer.

6. Valentine “Val” Frederick Doerr
b- Oct 4, 1879 in Shakespeare, Ontario
d- June 5, 1968
Funeral Service, St Peter and St Paul Anglican Church in Bienfait
buried in Bienfait Civic Cemetery
German Nationality, Presbyterian Religion
He came to Oxbow in 1901
In 1902 they took up a homestead in the Steelman District
Western land grant- NE sect 24, tsp4, rge 5, W2
Family moved to Bienfait in 1905.
He operated a combination Post Office, Telephone office, and Insurance business.
Post Master in Bienfait
On the First Village of Bienfait Council in 1912.
He retired in 1950
He served in the Boer War, and was a member of the Bienfait Legion

Val married Mary Jane Doerr, nee Golding
b- 1883
d- Apr 24, 1982, in Estevan, age 99
Funeral Service, St Peter and St Paul Anglican Church in Bienfait
buried in Bienfait Cemetery.

Children of Valentine Doerr:

Charles “Chuck” Fredrick Doerr
aka “ Mr. Lignite”
b- July 11, 1912
d- Nov 5, 1992
buried in Bienfait Civic Cemetery

Married Jennie May Doerr, nee Thompson
b- 1914
d- Oct 9, 1996
buried in Bienfait Civic Cemetery

Her father- Frank Lorenzo Thompson,
b- Jan 4, 1879
d- Oct 12, 1966
buried in Souris Valley Memorial Gardens in Estevan
married Mary in 1905, farmed south of Alameda
In 1933 they moved to a farm in the Estevan District.
In 1949 they moved to Estevan.

Her mother- Mary Thompson, nee Murray,
b- Feb 3, 1884
d- May 4, 1970, age 86
buried in Souris Valley Memorial Gardens in Estevan
She came from England with her parents in 1903
They had 4 sons, 4 daughters.

Charles was the oldest son of Val Doerr
(bio below)

Stewart Emil “Stu” Doerr
b- 1913
d- Dec 20, 1992
buried in Bienfait Civic Cemetery

Charles married Hilda Doerr, nee Sherratt, Apr 26, 1936
b- Aug 4, 1916
d- Aug 5, 1986, age 70
died from injuries from a car accident on the outskirts of Estevan
buried in Bienfait Civic Cemetery.

Stewart Doerr was Post Master in Bienfait after his father

Donald “Don” Doerr
b-
Mining Engineer
In 1954 he competed in the Estevan Fair Horse jumping competition.
1967 he was employed with the Boundary Construction Co. in Estevan
and his home was on Main St. in Bienfait

time of 2005 reunion, he lived in Estevan
married Norma nee ?

Mr. Chuck Doerr's Bio

First Electrical Shop in Bienfait was operated by a Mr. Frazer and Charles Doerr

Mr. Doerr joined Western Dominion Coal Mines Ltd. in 1939. He was an Electrician at the mine. In 1942 he became the Mine Manager.
In 1952 he was appointed Director and General Manager, of the Parent Company, Great West Coal Company Ltd. in Brandon MB.
He joined Alberta Coal Ltd in 1956 as General Manager. Sept 1964 he was appointed Managing Director of Great West Coal Ltd.,
when it was bought by Loram Coal Co. Ltd., from the N.M. Paterson family of Winnipeg.
July 1965 appointed President of Alberta Coal Ltd.

Alberta Coal Ltd, was formed and owned by the Mannix family,
Utility Coals Ltd, a wholly owned Subsidiary, was formed in early 1957, with C.F. (Chuck) Doerr (General Manager)

Manager Chuck Doerr claims sabotage at Western Dominion Mine, Nov 25, 1948

In 1968 when his father died, it was recorded he lived in St. Louis, Missouri, 1982 him and his wife lived in Calgary, when his mother died.

Recognized in Canada as a leading authority on mining operations, and a specialist in large excavating equipment.

May 1946 he was the honoured member of the Bienfait Legion, He was Superintendent of Western Dominion Mines at the time.

He designed and built a dragline console simulator, in the same shape as found on a real Bucyrus-Erie 2570-W dragline.
It was used to train new dragline operators. There was one built at Poplar River and at Estevan.
Controlled from the realistic console, is a 145 lb scale model of 9-W dragline. built to one half inch to the foot scale.
The console can control the hoist, swing, drag, and propulsion of the model, including the “walking” of the machine.
Mr. Doerr made both the console and the model. It took him 2 1/2 years to make both. In fact this was the 3rd dragline model he made.
He even had a monitoring device attached to it which provided a graphic output of the trainee's performance.

In 1978 this model was at the SPC offices in Regina, At that time Mr. Doerr had 45 years in the Coal Mining industry.

The last time I seen this model was in the Mining Museum in the old CPR station, at Bienfait.
At that time it was broken, and being so complicated, that I think only Mr. Doerr would have been able to fix it.
Somewhere I have pictures of this?

In 1966, after 2 years of construction, Mr. Doerr while Vice-President of Alberta Coal Co. designed and created a monster Diesel Electric Crawler Bulldozer,
An Articulated Machine, named XDE 80, nicknamed “The Doerr Tractor”, for Mannix Company in Calgary. It used 2 Cummins diesels, total of 1,050 hp, It weighed 90 tons, and was the largest bulldozer in the world at the time. Based on 2 Euclid TC-12 tractors, converted to electric drive.
It never went into production, but did work at a strip coal mine in Alberta.

From “Estevan, the Power Center” book it says he was an expert mechanic, and he built a 7 yard shovel by collecting and assembling the parts needed.
He even made a heated bucket feature in this shovel, so it could be used where the frozen dirt wouldn't stick to it.
Per this book a leading dragline company sent engineers up to look at this machine, and his ideas were incorporated into later machines.
This man was a true Inventor.

He was a Charter Member of the Estevan Kinsmen

Doerr St in Bienfait named after this family

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