A memorial headstone

We went into Victoria today to return a couple of things that I bought last week, and G suggested a trip to the historic Ross Bay Cemetery. 
"The cemetery was opened in 1873. The 27.5 acre (111,000 m²) cemetery is part of a public park and its south side faces Ross Bay on the Pacific Ocean.  It is named after its owner, Isabella Mainville Ross, the first registered independent woman landowner in British Columbia. Isabella was also Indigenous, an Anishinaabe and French Métis woman, which makes her accomplishment even more remarkable. Her Métis son, Alexander Ross, was buried in the cemetery in 1876. His grave marker is the only known original marker left in possession of the Old Cemeteries Society. The old wooden marker is still used as a model for heritage markers. Isabella Ross was buried across the path from Alexander in 1885. In 1994, the Old Cemeteries Society marked Isabella's grave with a heritage marker, styled after the one she chose for Alexander."  (Wikipedia)
We didn't have a lot of time to look around and I'd love to go back to find some of the more historic grave markers, including those of Isabella Ross and her son Alexander, and other well known people. 
I decided to blip this stone, which "...commemorates the 150 Victorians of Japanese descent who are buried in this historic cemetery beginning in 1887.  During the 1940s, when no person of Japanese descent was allowed to remain with 100 miles of the West Coast, many grave markers deteriorated or were vandalized.  This memorial is dedicated to the early immigrants from Japan whose courage and endurance made our lives in Canada possible.   Kakehashi, August 1999."   (inscribed on the back of the stone)  
The marker is completely black but the sun was shining on it so the sea, sky and tree in the background were reflected.  My brother-in-law's family are Japanese and lost everything in the 1940s because of the 100 mile decision.  They were fishermen living on the west coast and were taken to an internment camp in the interior of BC.  After the war and their release, they moved to Montreal, where my brother-in-law was born.
Ross Bay Cemetery
Might be my entry for this week's challenge theme:  Tombstone

Comments
Sign in or get an account to comment.