Mountain View Cemetery Tour - November 22 - Vancouver BC

Ellen Jewel TWISS, Section Officer, Royal Canadian Air Force, Women's Division. Born 1914, died in 1947 at age 32. Commonwealth War Graves Commission stone, Mountain View Cemetery, Masonic section, Plot 105, Lot 1, family plot. Parents: William James Twiss and Sadie Jewel Twiss. Photographed October 2009, M. Diane Rogers.

Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC.

In Honour of Remembrance Day Tour - with Lorraine Irving.

In this cemetery, you will find three areas dedicated to veterans.

On this tour, we will feature Commonwealth War Grave monuments starting at the Celebration Hall and ending at the Cross of Sacrifice. Along the way, you will hear stories of veterans, including a nursing sister.

Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 10 a.m. - Meet at the Mountain View Cemetery Celebration Hall & Courtyard (enter cemetery from 39th Avenue at Fraser Street). $10 each person. (Cash only please.)

No reservations needed.

Hot chocolate will be served after the tour - between 11:30 am & Noon.

Mountain View Cemetery, 5455 Fraser Street, Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z3
Phone: 604 - 325 - 2646

More information, including details on tours in 2010, is at the Mountain View Cemetery website.

Related Links:

Canadian Forces after 1918 (including Second World War), Canadian Genealogy Centre, Library and Archives Canada - research sources for Canadian military, including information on obtaining files for those serving in the forces during World War II and database for files of Canadian military killed in WW II, including Ellen Jewel TWISS.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The Maple Leaf Legacy Project

Artists and the Green Funeral Movement - Dec 9 2009

Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC - Special Event

Artists and the Green Funeral Movement
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 from 7 - 9 pm
Mountain View's Celebration Hall and Courtyard.

Presented by Mountain View Cemetery and the Britannia Art Gallery.

Two artists, Paula Jardine, Mountain View Cemetery's Artist in Residence, and Joseph Montague, ceramicist and printmaker, will join Glen Hodges, Mountain View Cemetery's Manager, in a panel discussion.

This should be a very interesting evening.

Mountain View Cemetery
5445 Fraser St., Vancouver.
Telephone 604 - 325 - 2646
Mountain View Cemetery website.

In British Columbia since the 1950s, there has been a strong interest in alternative funeral and burial practices, for example, in cremation. It's estimated that 80% of British Columbia's dead are now cremated. While cremation is still often seen as a modern alternative, many now question its effect on our environment and are looking at 'green' burials. A recent article by Darcy Wintonyk for CTV British Columbia, "The Green Hereafter: Eco-burials gain popularity" summarizes some of the debate around this issue. (Published Monday, 7 September 2009 at ctvbc.ca. article link )

The Memorial Society of British Columbia, incorporated in 1956, is BC's only volunteer based memorial society - members have often been in the forefront of change in the province. One of the goals of the Memorial Society of BC now is "to promote environmentally sound arrangements for disposal of remains" and the Society was honoured with the Vancouver Island Human Rights Coalition 2008 Award for its work towards the development of the first green burial site in British Columbia - at Royal Oak Burial Park in Victoria on Vancouver Island. There is more information about green burials on the Society's website.

Royal Oak Burial Park, open since 1923, since 2008 has offered "natural or green burials" in its 1/3 acre Woodland where there are only communal memorial stones. Ashes (cremains/cremated remains) may be scattered in the Woodlands area or Royal Oak offers "'hybrid’ natural burials" in regular burial lots where individualized markers may be placed. For more information about this, see the Royal Oak Burial Park website.

Only one other cemetery in Canada currently offers green burials, and a number of cemeteries in British Columbia require concrete vaults so that even 'hybrid' natural burials wouldn't be possible. Mountain View in Vancouver, however, does allow burials without concrete liners or vaults and as well allows for "multigenerational" use of a family grave or plots.

In addition, the new Celebration Hall and the newer outdoor features lend themselves to more personal commemorations at death as well as to the annual public memorial events created by Paula Jardine, Mountain View's Artist in Residence.

The cemetery's new buildings' display spaces are available to feature artists' funerary works. Joseph Montague has been involved in creating a number of funerary pieces, one of which was chosen for the 'Ashes to Art' exhibition in 2008.

See a catalogue of Joseph Montague's work on his website and see the Public Dreamer website for a look at some of Paula Jardine's work.

My Epitaph - Graveyard Rabbits Carnival - November 2009

In former times, it was the custom to write for fanciful conceits on the tombs of the dead. Acrostics, anagrams, rebuses and puzzles were frequently met with, and no doubt the mourning relative thought that they thus paid a high mark of respect to the memory of the deceased; but to what good end? Surely here in God's Acre, if anywhere on earth, true reverence and simplicity should be found. No skilful conceit of man can ever take the place of the Word of God, even though it be as pointed and direct as that quaint epitaph written in the form of an acknowledgement from the Great Mother

who will one day clasp us all to her bosom:

"Received of Philip Harding his borrowed earth, July 4, 1673.

from "English Epitaphs", by W. Everard Edmonds.¹ Victoria Daily Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Sunday, 2 June 1907, page 24. (Read the full article at the British Colonist website.)


The challenge for the November 2009 Edition of the Graveyard Rabbits' Carnival was to write my own epitaph.

'Plan Your Epitaph Day', an international observance for November 2nd each year, coincides with All Saint’s Day, often known as the Day of the Dead, and was created by Lance Hardie, "committed epitaph crusader and consultant".

This challenge wasn't hard as when I first published this blog, I included as a side piece a depiction of the epitaph that I hope is appropriate for myself - Most Days She Did Her Best.

Now it's true that, on the back, I'd like to see my dates and place of birth written and, if I could, a family tree showing at least my parents, grands and greats too.

But I'm set now on being buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, BC, where my parents, my uncle, and my paternal grandparents and my paternal grandmother's parents are buried, as well as a good assortment of other family. I doubt there will be room for a big stone just for me!

1. The Harding epitaph, I believe, was from Crudwell, Wiltshire, England. See Antiente epitaphes (from A.D. 1250 to A.D. 1800) collected [and] sett forth in chronologicall order by Thomas FitzArthur Ravenshaw (London: Joseph Masters & Co.. 1878), page 127. Read this at the Internet Archive.

Reverend W. Everard Edmonds, born in Ontario, Canada, wrote several books and articles about Canadian history. After World War I, Edmonds, a high school teacher and an Anglican minister, was Editor of the Alberta Historical Review, the journal of the Historical Society of Alberta. "The Historical Society - early years 1907-1952" by Hugh A. Dempsey (Alberta History, Autumn 2007 - read on-line.)

Night for All Souls - Mountain View Cemetery - Vancouver BC Oct 30-Nov 2 2009

A Night for All Souls was created by Paula Jardine, Mountain View's Artist in Residence, in 2005. Here is an article from the Vancouver Sun, 27 October 2008, about last year's event.

In 2009, there will be new participants and new activities at the Night for All Souls event, from October 30 to November 2, 2009.

It begins on Friday, October 30th with prayers at sundown. As in previous years, there will be materials on hand to create your own personal memorials or you can join one of the workshops this week. World Tea Party artist Bryan Mulvihill and Ian Willie/Raven Thunderbird will hold a tea ceremony to honour First Nations people buried at Mountain View and, for the first time, local poets, led by Vancouver's Poet Laureate, Brad Cran, will be present reading at various locations in the cemetery. The evening closes at 10 pm.

On Saturday, October 31st, from 8 to 11 pm,Vancouver’s Helping Mex y Can Society will be co-hosting an evening of Mexican traditions to honour the dead with mariachi music, ancient dances of the Aztecs, and traditional Mexican refreshments. There's a Facebook page for this event here.

On Sunday, November 1st, in the afternoon, from 2 to 4 pm, Poet Laureate Brad Cran and poet Stephen Hollis will host a tribute to the late poets Robin Blaser, Kuldip Gill, David Dawson and Billy Little.

Monday, November 2nd, from 5-6 pm, there is a last opportunity for memorials.

And on Tuesday, November 3rd, the closing ceremony will be held at noon.

For more information, see Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver - on Facebook - on Twitter

Roadside and other Public but Personal Memorials - Future Genealogy Source

Further to my last post, Looking for Death Information - Thinking about Genealogy Sources , I'm currently reading Private Grief, Public Mourning: The Rise of the Roadside Shrine in British Columbia by John Belshaw and Diane Purvey. (Vancouver, BC: Anvil Press, 2009). I picked up a copy of this new book at Word on the Street in Vancouver last month.

Many of these memorials are, by their nature and construction, ephemeral, but these may also be sources of death information. These often very personal memorials which may be constructed and contributed to almost anonymously are not necessarily all roadside memorials, although those may seem to have the most attention. Memorials in parks or at residences are perhaps less likely to stay up for long.

And, in some jurisdictions in Canada, governments, with the assistance of MADD Canada, are placing permanent memorial markers at traffic accident sites.

Some, including the media in crime cases, are photographing these kinds of memorials, as these authors have done, so collections of today's personal memorial images and records may be available to future researchers.

Here are just a few links to collections and articles on-line

Roadside Memorials, Don Baccus.

RoadsideMemorials.ca

"Crosses, Flowers, and Asphalt: Roadside Memorials in the U.S. South" by
Tom Zarrilli. Southern Spaces, published 19 August, 2009.

A Photo Journey of Mexican Roadside Memorials from the Surf-Mexico Guide to Surfing and Adventure Travel in Mexico website.

Folklore of Roadside Memorials, by psolis, Pablo Solis, at Squidoo.

Looking for Death Information - Thinking about Genealogy Sources

David Rogers' grave, 1927, Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

The other day, for fun(!) and for a genealogy class I'm teaching at the Burnaby Community Centred College for the Retired, I sat down with a cup of tea, paper and pen, and made a list of all the sources for death information I could think of at the time. Some will have dates of death, others will have cemetery information or the cause of death, but all are potential sources for genealogical death information. Now I've put an asterisk beside those I've used or found family information in during my own research.

I know there must be more sources, perhaps some very obvious ones - please do comment!

DEATH –POSSIBLE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

*Insurance records
*Land records (deeds, assessments, petitions, etc.)
*Cemetery records (including burial records, photographs)
*Funeral home records or crematorium records
Coffin plates
Memorial jewellery or other momentos
Post-mortem photographs
*Newspaper obituary or article or notice
*Government or other records (other than strictly death related) e.g. disaster reports, commissions, year-end reports of epidemics or mortality, or attorney-general or police or court records (including coroner’s reports), etc. Lists, notices, correspondence regarding government aid to orphans, widows, or burial assistance. Also voters lists and the like.
*Tombstone inscription
*Funeral programme
*Government notices of deaths (e.g. in a newspaper for particular months)
*Death certificate/death registration of individual (or a family member)
*Family letters
*Marriage applications, registrations, invitations, etc. of related person
Pension applications
*City/community directories
*Proved will of individual; wills of family members or others
*Church records, burials, burial charges/services (e.g. burial in wool – England 1666-(1770) 1814), memorial gifts or bequests, sessional records, etc.
*Organization or association records or publications, e.g. Royal Canadian Legion – ‘Last Post’; lists or notices of graves visited on 'Decoration Days'. [Also burial assistance records or cemetery records, if the organization has a cemetery or owns cemetery plots for members' use.]
*Community history book
Ship’s passenger lists
*Family photograph of grave/funeral/monumental inscription
Monument makers record
*Genealogical publications or databases, e.g. D.A.R. applications, also family genealogies
*Guardianship applications
*Medical records –physicians or hospital, also autopsy reports
*Memorial or funeral cards
*Probate or estate files, wills, applications, inventories, etc. of individual or another person
*Census – mortality schedules
*Genealogical/historical society recordings of monumental inscriptions
School records and publications
*Military file of individual or related person
*Urn or container of cremains with official or other label
*Legal ads – newspapers, government gazettes. Also auction or other sale notices
Pension records for individual or related person (company, private, government)
*Family bible or other record, family journals, diaries [My grandmother's address book was very helpful - she even added dates.]
*‘In Memory’ website or Facebook page.
Employment records or publications
*In Memoriam notices – newspapers, other publications. Also Cards of Thanks. [Found a newspaper notice from my great uncle remembering his step-sister - 10 years after her death. That's how I found her date of death.]
*Oral or other family tradition, e.g. ‘died at sea’. [My grandmother remembered lilies of the valley on her brother's grave.]
*Funeral, monument or other cemetery related receipts
*Memorial monuments or rolls (other than cemetery related), e.g. cenotaphs, community memorial plaques
*Union records and publications
Certificate of burial/cremation or transfer/transport of body/ashes

(I'm not thinking about indexes here as those should lead us to the actual documents and artifacts. )

And I could have added:

*Obituary collections - printed, on-line, or in card files, etc. from individuals or genealogical/historical societies/museums, etc. [Hope I am not taking these for granted!]

*Birth records of related individuals may have information on deceased parents, etc.

Receipt for purchase of one share BC Electric Power and Gas Company Ltd., from estate of David J. Rogers, 1927. To be paid to G.W. Hamilton, Esq., Undertaker, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Sombre or Somber Sunday - 6 September 1919 - Vancouver BC Canada

The Vancouver Daily Sun, 6 September 1919 had these notes on deaths:

Deaths and Funerals, page 10

DARWELL—September 4, 1919, at the Vancouver General Hospital, Edythe Leslie Darwell, in her 23rd year, late of 1746 William Street. Funeral service from Center & Hanna’s chapel this afternoon at 1 o’clock. Interment in Mountain View Cemetery.

PHELPS—September 4, 1919, at the family residence, 2034 Thirty-sixth avenue west, Robert Louis Phelps, in his 43rd year. Funeral service from Center & Hanna’s chapel this afternoon at 2:30. Rev. Mr. Wilson officiating. Interment in Ocean View Burial Park.
[The BC Archives Vital Events Index shows his name as Lewis, not Louis, and the place of death as Point Grey which was not part of Vancouver at this time.]

BAILEY—Inquest, page 7

An inquest will be held on the body of J. W. Bailey, a returned soldier, who fell dead in the Maryland cafe. The inquest will probably be held on Monday, according to Dr. T.W. Jeffs, coroner. No relatives of the deceased have been located yet.
[Identified as John Wright BAILEY, aged 52, in the BC Vital Events Index. Death date: 5 September, 1919.]

And from France, page 2

From Paris – a brief report on a two train collision near Toulouse. 13 killed, 40 injured that morning.

*********************
About Sombre Sunday

I post deaths from British Columbia, Canada from
the date of the first Sunday of each month as published in a selected newspaper or other source.

Somber Sunday, or, as we spell it here in Canada, Sombre Sunday, is a day to post obituaries or sad stories - the idea of Brenda Kay Wolfgram Moore who writes at Day-ly Genealogy Blogposts .

Useful links:

BC Archives Vital Events Index & Information

Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver

Ocean View Burial Park is in Burnaby, a neighbour city to Vancouver. The BC Genealogical Society has information on burials there and a CD for sale.