Dear Editor:
I am writing in regards to my concerns about the maintenance of small country graveyards that need the attention and care of our municipal governments. In the past these graveyards were consistently taken care of by the residents living in these communities but due to the fact that these people have gotten older, died or moved away from their homes these graveyards have been neglected. The pioneers of this province have done their duty and looked after these graveyards, the final resting place of their loved ones. It is now the duty of the municipalities to do the care and maintenance of these graveyards that the pioneers did for their entire lives. It is unfortunate that the pioneers of this province who worked this land with their bare hands cannot have their final resting places taken care of by today’s society. It is now the duty of today’s government to look after these sacred places because if it had not been for our forefathers’ hard work and perseverance, we would not be here today.
During July of 2017 I drove with my children, mother and grandmother to the Lake Mona District near Duff where we stopped at the site of the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church where my grandmother’s twin sons were buried as newborn infants in July 1943. The church is gone now which makes this site even harder to find. For 74 years my family has been looking after their grave, using our own mower and weed wacker to make sure the grass is cut and not overgrown with weeds. My grandmother is now 93 years old and lives in an old age facility in Yorkton so due to her age and declining health she is not able to tend to her sons grave any longer. My mom, now in her mid ‘70’s is the only child left and since she now lives in Yorkton in a senior’s condo she does not have access to a mower to upkeep her brother’s grave. There is no one left except myself and my sisters but we all live in Alberta so we do not have easy access to the tools needed to keep the gravesite up.
There are also other graveyards across the province that need some tender loving care and attention from current municipal governments but the ones that I am familiar with include the areas of Ituna, Melville, Hubbard, Goodeve, Jedburgh, Parkerview, Fenwood, Willowbrook and other small rural graveyards in the Yorkton area. Neglecting these sites would be a let down to the people who brought us to where we are today. If the municipalities do not start looking after these graveyards it will be a major disappointment to the families of loved ones buried in these remote places and it is not teaching our future generations to respect these people and what they stood for.
Pam (Kowalchuk) Lien
Caslan, AB.
