Kay Street

John Archibald C. (Archie) Kay was manager of the Perth Mutual Fire Insurance Co., late rebranded as Perth Insurance.

"The Perth” was founded in 1863 by a group of farmers who banded together for mutual protection against property loss from fire. Kay joined the company in 1912, but left in 1916 to serve with the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps during the First World War. Upon his return from overseas, he enrolled in an engineering program at the University of Toronto. Upon graduating in 1922, he took a position in the Canadian Fire Underwriters’ Association in Toronto.

Kay returned to the Perth offices in 1923. A decade later he was named assistant manager, and in 1944 succeeded A. Edwin Dodds as manager. Four years later, Archie Kay died in an automobile accident at age 53. He and his wife Marion (Kenner) lived at 104 John St. N. Source: Streets of Stratford 2004.