Elmer Rhenstrom
 Rhenstrom during the 1922 season | |||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | August 11, 1895 Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||
| Died: | December 27, 1967 (aged 72) Ontario, California, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| College: | Beloit | ||||||
| Position: | End | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
Elmer Gustaf "Swede" Rhenstrom (August 18, 1895 – December 26, 1967) was World War I fighter pilot, professional football player, and airline manager.[1]
Rhenstrom was an end for the inaugural Horlick-Racine Legion team in the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.
Biography
[edit]Elmer Rhenstrom, known to his friends as "Swede", was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin.[2] He was the son of Anthony Rhenstrom (1865–1955) and Emma Stahl Rhenstrom (1866–1939), both immigrants from Sweden.[2]
Rhenstrom served as a pilot in France during the First World War, where he shot down two (unofficially three) enemy aircraft, for which he was referred to as an ace.[1][3] He was awarded the Silver Star for his activity during the Great War in October 1941, on the eve of American entry into World War II.[4]
After the war, enrolled at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, where he played football.[3][5] He married Dorothy Virginia Miles in 1920.[3]
In 1922, he signed on with the Racine Post of the American Legion to play football for their professional football team — the Racine Legion of the National Football League.[1]
In 1928 he joined Fairfield Aviation in Riverside, Ohio,[1][6] and in 1929 he became a manager at Texas Air Transport Inc.[6]
In the 1940s he was an officer at Scott Field near Belleville, Illinois.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Kenosha Ace Joins Flying Firm in East," Kenosha News, Feb. 2, 1928, p. 1.
- ^ a b "Wisconsin Births and Christenings, 1826-1926: Elmer Gustav Rhenstrom, 1895," FamilySearch, familysearch.org/.
- ^ a b c "Rites Culminate College Romance," Kenosha News, Nov. 26, 1920, p. 3.
- ^ a b "Scott Field Officer Gets Medal for World War Deed," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 23, 1941, p. 41.
- ^ "Star Athlete Joins Army," Kenosha News, May 2, 1917, p. 1.
- ^ a b "Rhenstrom Is Air Manager," Kenosha News, Jan. 21, 1929, p. 7.