Monday, November 11, 2013

We Will Remember Them.





Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC, Canada.


John Ley Retallack
Major
Born At Marazion, Cornwall,
England, December 2nd 1865
Died at Grande Prairie, Alberta
October 4th 1924







One of the many military and veterans' graves at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  This particular monument, impressive though it is, gives little more than a hint about Major Retallack, O.B.E.'s military past and his influence on British Columbia's economy. For more about his military life, see his entry on the "Some interesting Retallicks of the past" web page on the Retallick Family site.

One of my own projects now is to continue to photograph all the military and military related headstones and plaques at Mountain View Cemetery. I intend to finish this next year - and to organize all my cemetery photographs to allow me to share them easily. I'm primarily interested in seeing that the British Columbia Genealogical Society has photographs of all these, but there are other projects on the go too.

The phrase "We Will Remember Them" is a refrain from the poem, Ode to Remembrance, written by Laurence Binyon in Cornwall. This poem is very often recited at Remembrance Day services in Canada. (Follow the link above to Laurence Binyon's biography and the words to the poem.)

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Oct 26 - Nov 1, 2013 - All Soul's Events at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC

All Soul's Events at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC 

Mountain View Cemetery photograph, Vancouver, BC, Canada, M. Diane Rogers.

Saturday, October 26 2013

All Souls: Create flower garlands

  • 10:00am to 2:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street

Saturday, October 26 2013

All Souls: Opening night

  • 6:00pm to 10:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Sunday, October 27 2013

All Souls: Historic walk of the cemetery

  • 2:00pm to 4:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Sunday, October 27 2013

All Souls: Threshold Choir performs; Create personal memorials

  • 6:00pm to 9:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Monday, October 28 2013

All Souls: Create personal memorials

  • 6:00pm to 9:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Tuesday, October 29 2013

All Souls: Create personal memorials

  • 6:00pm to 9:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Wednesday, October 30 2013

All Souls: Sugar skulls demonstration; Create personal memorials

  • 6:00pm to 9:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Thursday, October 31 2013

All Souls: Little Chamber Music Series that Could performs

  • 6:00pm to 9:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.
 Mountain View Cemetery photograph, Vancouver, BC, Canada, M. Diane Rogers.

Friday, November 1 2013

All Souls: Celebrating Mexican Day of the Dead

  • 6:00pm to 9:00pm
  • Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street
  • Cost: Free. Donations welcome.

Monday, October 22, 2012

All Souls' Events - October 2012 at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver BC

It's that time of year again - All Souls' at Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery  is almost here. Some activities and participants are now familiar to many, but new things will be happening too. Mountain View is Vancouver's only cemetery and is just west of Fraser St, between 31st Ave and 43rd Ave., easily accessible.

Plan to attend. Come early to have a good look around this 106 acre civic space, locate a family member's grave, or to take photographs. Then attend one of the evening events. All Souls' is an artist led, family friendly opportunity for quiet reflection and remembrance, and for sharing those experiences too, if you like, no matter where you're from.


Saturday, October 27 from 6:00 to 10:00 pm

Music, warming fires, and fragrant teas comfort the living, and public shrines remember the dead.  Inside the Celebration Hall you will find space and materials to craft your own personal memorials.

Sunday, October 28 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm 

Threshold Choir performance in the Celebration Hall.  The all-women Threshold Choir honours the ancient tradition of singing at the bedsides of people who are struggling, some with living, some with dying.

Tuesday, October 30 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm 

Film screening of the 2006 documentary "Forever" about Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.

Thursday, November 1 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm 

The Orkestar Slivovica Balkan Brass Band performance and procession through the shrines to honour the dead.

Mountain View Cemetery
5455 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC
V5W 2Z3
Phone: 604-325-2646
(entrance at 39th Ave)

Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver - All Souls' Calendar of Events

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Women's History Tour - Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery, Aug. 5, 2012

It's time for another women's history tour at the City of Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery -  this Sunday, August 5th at 10 am. Meet at the Celebration Hall.

 Grave marker for Robertha (Watt) Marshall, Titanic surviver, Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC, Canada

For more details, see the British Columbia Genealogical Society website.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Cemetery Tours Coming Up - Vancouver BC

At Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, BC, there will be two sets of tours this month. See you there!

First, one on Sunday, June 19th, then another on Sunday, June 26th. Details below.

Join John Atkin (Civic Historian) and Lorraine Irving (BC Genealogical Society) once again on their very popular walking tours. Mill Managers, Union Organisers and Archivists & Piano Salesmen will be discussed, along with lots of other interesting tidbits about the cemetery!
Sunday, June 19th
10am to Noon
$10.00 per person (cash only please)
Rain or shine
No reservations necessary
Meet at 5445 Fraser St at 39th Ave.

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/NONMARKETOPERATIONS/MOUNTAINVIEW/walk%20poster3.pdf


And next,

Crinolines, Crimes and Courage:
Women of Mountain View Cemetery Historical Walking Tour
Sunday, June 26, 2011

1:00pm-3:00pm

A fundraiser for the Friends of the Vancouver City Archives

Minimum donation $10 (cash only). Maximum 25 people * drop-in only

Meet at the southwest corner of 33rd & Fraser St.



What do a Titanic survivor, a murdered nurse and an adventurous Gastown school teacher all have in common? You will discover the answer and more on this 2 hour tour led by three Vancouver women historians. Visit the grave sites and hear stories about the famous and forgotten remarkable women who helped shape our city. Step back in time to unearth fascinating true tales of struggles, conquests and mystery surrounding the lives of this amazing collection of historically important women. The tour also includes how to decipher grave marker symbolisms.


Tour by 3 women historians from the BC Genealogical Society, Women's History Network of BC & the Herstory Cafe.

Lorraine Irving has been giving tours of Mountain View Cemetery for over 10 years. She is the President, B.C. Genealogical Society, B.C. Historical Federation Director, Vancouver Historical Society member, New Westminster Historical Society member and a guide at Irving House, New Westminster Museum.

M. Diane Rogers is the Editor & Past President, British Columbia Genealogical Society and Secretary, Women's History Network of British Columbia. Teacher, speaker, researcher & writer, British Columbian family history and women's history.

Jolene Cumming is a local historical interpreter whose specializes in early Vancouver women’s history and Stanley Park historical walking tours. She is the co-founder and co-coordinator of the Herstory Cafe and a board member of the Friends of the Vancouver Archives. Jolene is a fourth generation Vancouverite.


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Cemetery Events Coming Up - Vancouver & Burnaby

Special cemetery events for Women's History Month, All Souls, and Remembrance Day.

24 October, Sunday, 1-2:30 pm: Women's History Tour with 'yours truly', M. Diane Rogers, Ocean View Burial Park in Burnaby. Sponsored by the Burnaby Village Museum. $15. Registration required; please register early - in person, by phone or on-line.

30 October - 2nd November, 6th Annual Night for All Souls at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver. See the Mountain View website for activities that day. Free events. Sunday, October 31st, hear the Threshold Choir from 7-8pm; Monday, November 1st see a special showing of "A Family Undertaking - Home Funerals in America" beginning at 7 pm.

7 November, Sunday, 10-1130 am: War Time Graves tour with Maurice Guibord at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Burnaby. Sponsored by the Burnaby Village Museum. $15. Registration required: please register early - in person, by phone or on-line.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Graveyard Rabbit Carnival - Occupations and Hobbies

An Occupation Or Hobby Memorialized in Stone - this is the theme of October's Graveyard Rabbit Carnival.

Here's a favourite of mine from Fraser Cemetery in New Westminster, BC, Canada - a loving remembrance.

Kathleen Booth marker, Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada.
Photograph taken by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010.
[Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Marker for Booth, Kathleen, Section: IOOF 6-7, Row: 5, Stone: 5.]


Take a look at what's on the one side of the marker though. Whether Kathleen Booth sewed for love or from necessity, we know she was likely never idle.

Kathleen Booth marker, Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada.
Photograph taken by M. Diane Rogers, June 2010. [Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, BC, Canada. Marker for Booth, Kathleen, Section: IOOF 6-7, Row: 5, Stone: 5.]


The British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS) published a CD about Fraser Cemetery in 2010 with photographs, gravestone inscriptions and descriptions. Contact the BCGS for more information: www.bcgs.ca