Harold A. Rogers

Harold Allin Rogers, OC, OBE (January 3, 1899 – September 15, 1994) was the founder of Kin Canada. He is known by Kinsmen and Kinettes as Founder Hal.

Harold Allin Rogers was born in London, Ontario on January 3, 1899. Rogers moved to Hamilton, Ontario to work for his father when he was appointed manager of the Standard Sanitary Co. Ltd. Soon after the move, in March 1916, at the age of 17, he enlisted with the 173rd Argyle and Sutherland Battalion. After further training in England, and anxious to get to the front lines, he transferred to the 54th Kootenay Battalion. He fought at Vimy Ridge, Lens, Hill 70 and Ypres, where his leadership skills in the field led to his promotion to the rank of corporal and a recommendation for a commission. Before it could be acted upon, he was gassed at the Paschendaele front (Ypres) and wounded at the Amiens front. After hospitalization in England, he returned home to Hamilton in January 1919.

Missing the camaraderie of army life, Rogers decided to join the local Rotary Club where his father was a member. Because a once fundamental rule of the Rotarians was to only have one member from each employment classification and as he worked as a salesman in the plumbing industry for his father, his application was rejected. Rogers decided to create a new club and, as a result of his initiative, a small group of like-minded men gathered for a dinner meeting on February 20, 1920 and formed what became known as the Kinsmen Club of Hamilton - Canada's first Kinsmen Club.

Rogers dedication to the concept of education is evidenced in his many years as a trustee on the Forest Hill Board of Education and was recognised by the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, which named him the first recipient of the Lamp of Learning Award in 1950. The Lamp of Learning is awarded annually to a non-teacher who has contributed to the furtherance of education in the Province of Ontario.

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