Grave marker for Carl E. Kentz located in the Riverview Hospital Cemetery
One of many souls to be found in my ongoing Riverview Hospital Cemetery Flickr set
Carl E. Kentz died at Essondale on the 8th of September 1959, he previously had an operation on his right femur on the 25th of August, and afterwards was stricken with bronchopneumonia. Carl was buried on the 11th of September 1959 in the Essondale Cemetery, see his full Death Certificate
Lourdes Hospital, Campbell River. 1929
Cat. No.: 8184
The Order of the Sisters of St. Anne operated the Lourdes Hospital in Campbell River from 1929-1957
Cat. No.: 8184
The Order of the Sisters of St. Anne operated the Lourdes Hospital in Campbell River from 1929-1957
He was probably sent to Essondale from the Lourdes Hospital 45 months prior to his death.
Born in Falun, Dalarana, Sweden on the 11th of April 1875, Carl’s father was, John Johnson.
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San Francisco Call 7 April 1904
The Sergeant’s Whistle
When Police Officer Carl E. Kentz, one of the newly appointed guardians of the lives and property of the citizens of Oakland, was detailed on his first beat In the northern portion of the city, near Lake Merritt, he was told among other things that if he heard the sergeant’s whistle while patrolling his beat he should at once answer it so that the sergeant might be able to locate him. About a week after he had begun regular duty Kentz was strolling along, keeping, a sharp eye out for burglars and other violators of the law, it being Just about the hour at night when these gentry begin to ply their trade, when he suddenly heard the sharp trill of a whistle. The alert officer paused to get the direction of the sound and again the rattle of the whistle broke the stillness of the night.
Anxious to show his superior that he was awake and attending to duty Kentz put his own whistle to his lips and answered, at the same time hurrying in the direction from which the Sound seemed to come. Again came the sharp call and once more the patrolman gave answer. This was repeated several times and still Kentz seemed no nearer to the mysterious whistler. As he hurried along, wondering where the sergeant could be, he caught the flash of a star as a man in uniform came around the next corner on the run. The newcomer proved to be Officer Jack Gardiner, who panted as he came galloping up, “What did you whistle for?”
“I was answering the sergeant,” said Kentz. “Hark! there he goes again!”
Gardiner listened for a moment and then as the whistle was repeated he burst into a roar of laughter. “Why,” he said to the now thoroughly angry Kentz, “that isn’t the sergeant whistling. It’s one of those birds they call night herons”
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The San Francisco Call, Tuesday July 26, 1904
Oakland, July 25.—Regular Patrolman Carl E. Kentz of the Oakland Police Department was off duty last night. Carl took advantage of his brief furlough and attended a moonlight outing at Shell Mound Park. That is what led to his undoing.
After a strenuous encounter with the kind of alcoholic stimulant that hits the fighting bumps Kentz Imagined he was a composite photograph of everybody in the fighting game from a Roman gladiator down to Jeffries.
Result—One badly battered bluecoat borne to the County Jail at 2 o’clock this morning In care of three husky deputy constables.
Result No. 2—A bunch of seventeen men storming the chief of Police office at opening hours to-day with seventeen kinds of complaints to lodge against the patrolman who had strayed from the narrow path.
Result No. 3—One marred policeman relieved of star and ordered to face his superiors, with every prospect that his term of service, begun only last October, will abruptly end.
Kentz must also answer to a charge of disturbing the peace, his freedom having been gained by the depositing of $20 bail.
Kentz has a dim recollection of the events at the picnic. They came so fast that one crowded the other out of his mind. When he got out of his trance he found his countenance filled with projecting knobs and contusions, while an eye in colors lurid and a cut here and there in relief gave a realistic touch to the joys of the outing.
Deputy Constables Green, Wagner and Asher supply the missing details. Kentz, they say, conducted himself entirely out of the lines set for good policemen to follow. So unconventional was the Oaklander that the officers at the park insisted he should retire. Kentz, bibulously belligerent, declined the invitation to depart. But he must leave, declared the constabulary. “Must” did not strike Carl as quite the word. However, things began to move about that time.
Kentz would not go.
So they took him. It was a merry mix-up, but as the overwhelmed policeman afterward asserted, “Three men were too many for me after I sprained my knee on the railroad track.”
They landed Kentz in jail after he had been patched up at the Receiving Hospital.
Seriously, the deputy constables charge that Kentz acted outrageously in the presence of women and was so insulting that several of their escorts took him In hand. Kentz denies all this and asserts that he did not start ructions until someone hit him in the face.
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San Francisco Call 27 July 1904
Chief Hodgkins Has Talk With Patrolman Who Mixed in Brawl at Shell Mound.
OAKLAND, July 26. — Chief of Police Hodgkins has advised Policeman Carl E. Kentz, who was arrested at Shell Mound Park Sunday on a charge of disturbing: the peace, to resign from the Police Department and save himself the notoriety that would be given him should he be obliged to face a meeting of the Board of Police Commissioners. No complaint has yet been issued. Kentz will probably follow the Chief's advice.
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San Francisco Call 29 July 1904
Many Charges Against Kentz
OAKLAND, July 28. — Charges will he filed to-morrow with the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners against Policeman Carl E. Kentz, who was arrested Sunday night at Shell Mound Park by Deputy Constables Green and Wagner. Green to-day swore to a complaint against Kentz charging him with a disturbance of the peace. A committee from the Scandinavian Society composed of C. L. Johannsen, H. A. Thompson. E. Anderson and Gus Neilson, lodged charges with the Chief of Police to-day against Kentz. Neilson asserts that the policeman struck him on the face.
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San Francisco Call 10 August 1904
POLICEMAN KENTZ'S CASE HEARD BY THE BOARD
Intimation is given that the patrolman's resignation would not be voted down.
Oakland, Aug. 9.- As a result of the investigation of the charges made against Policemen Carl E. Kentz, who, according to Gustav Neilsen and several deputy constables, went on a rampage at a picnic at Shell Mound Park two weeks ago, informal word was given out from the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners this afternoon that Kentz's resignation would simplify matters for him. The board reserved a decision in the case.
Witnesses for Kentz were Miss Christine Johnson, N. Pierson, Mrs. N. Pierson, John Pierson and Nils Swanson. Neilsen and Deputy Constables George Green, Frank Waggoner and H. Lewis de Lavergne gave their version of the difficulty which led to Kentz's arrest.
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San Francisco Call 21 August 1904
THORWALD BROWN MADE REGULAR POLICE OFFICER
Commissioners Fill Place Made Vacant by Retirement of Kentz
OAKLAND; Aug. 20.— The Board of Police and Fire Commissioners to-day appointed Thorwald Brown a regular patrolman in place of Carl E. Kentz, resigned…
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The directories for the Oakland, California area are incomplete online, but I did find that Carl in 1903 was working for the Oakland Transit Co., and lived at 4610 Grove Street, Oakland, Cal.; and also that he does not appear in the directories for the area from 1906 onwards.Unknown what Carl was doing before he showed up living in Campbell River, B.C., since according to his death certificate he was in B.C. in 1912, but the dates stated in the certificates are frequently wrong.