 His family moved to Canada at the age of nine to escape the Russian Revolution stating his father believed the Bolshevik party to be a stab in the back for the Germany minority population in the Russian Empire and for fear of the Tsarist secret police round up of German volunteer Wehrmacht divisions within Russia.His grandsons are musicians Mike Kroeger and Chad Kroeger of the band Nickelback.Kroger first ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1959 general election, as a Liberal candidate in the electoral district of Stettler.