Elmer Rhenstrom

Elmer Gustaf "Swede" Rhenstrom (August 18, 1895 – December 26, 1967) was World War I fighter pilot, professional football player, and airline manager.^[1]

Elmer Rhenstrom

Rhenstrom during the 1922 season
Personal information
Born:	(1895-08-11)August 11, 1895 Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died:	December 27, 1967(1967-12-27) (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
Racine Legion (1922)
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 6 Starts: 3 Stats at Pro Football Reference

Rhenstrom was an end for the inaugural Horlick-Racine Legion team in the National Football League (NFL) in 1922.

Biography

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]