Local cemetery enthusiast group endeavours to restore gravestones to former glory
BY SCOTT STEPHENSON
The Cemetery Enthusiasts of Huron County, Ontario (CEHCO) have been getting a lot of good press lately, and rightly so - this volunteer collective is decidedly dedicated to cataloging, cleaning and restoring the area’s grave markers, many of which are at risk of being lost to time after decades of neglect.
All the attention has increased public awareness and attracted new members, making this the perfect moment in time for The Citizen to call up CEHCO founder Lori Carter for a quick chat about cemeteries, memories and the group’s upcoming events.
Carter is a far cry from the morose and macabre sort of character frequently found lurking in the cemeteries of popular culture - she goes about honouring Huron County’s dead with an infectious sense of community spirit. “Without our ancestors, we wouldn't be here!” she pointed out cheerfully. “I think that they deserve to have their resting places cared for.”
Along with CEHCO co-leader Debi Bryans, Carter hopes to eventually catalog every grave marker in Huron County, one town at a time. “We keep busy! We started a mission on Brussels Cemetery last year, and it has kind of taken us longer than we would have thought, but we’re doing a really good job, and we’re doing a thorough job,” Carter explained. “We’re trying to dot all the ‘t’s’, cross all the ‘i’s’, and try to find everybody.”
Cataloging grave markers is a slow and methodical art. “I walk stone by stone, documenting and picturing,” she explained. While she now considers herself to be a pro, it wasn’t like that when she first started out. “That first cemetery was tough. You get home, and half the pictures are unreadable, because of the condition of the stones. So then you head back to the cemetery! Now we’re like a well-oiled machine.”
The CEHCO is not satisfied with merely preserving the physical relics of these memorials - they also strive to connect those orphaned stones to the present day by researching the history of the names they encounter, studying their family trees, and reaching out to any living descendants they come across. “Most people have no clue where their great-grandparents, or great-great-grandparents are even buried, so when [the gravestones] fall into disrepair, how are we going to find out who they belong to so we can try to save them?” she pointed out.
Facilitating these family reunions is one of Carter’s favourite parts of being a guardian of the grave. “It’s exciting for all the people whose families we’ve found!” she exclaimed. “My biggest satisfaction is connecting people to their families, and getting their thank you messages.” So far, Carter and her team have helped to fill in the foliage on family trees as far flung as California, British Columbia, England and beyond.
When she’s not documenting and cleaning headstones, Carter likes to check out some of the other interesting features of Ontario’s graveyards. “I think the most fascinating thing for me [is] the white zinc monuments,” she said. “So far, I’ve found at least one or two in each cemetery, and the bigger cemeteries have multiples. A little tidbit of information - zinc monuments all have little plates along the bottom that are screwed on, and it’s rumoured that they were a hiding place for bootleggers back in the day - the plates came right off!” During the heyday of prohibition, most zinc monuments, or “zinkys” were manufactured in St. Thomas.
On Oct 5, the CEHCO will be partnering with Sarnia’s Memorial Restoration to host a headstone repair workshop at the Brussels Cemetery. All 34 spots in the hands-on event filled up quickly, so any interested parties will just have to wait for the next one. Carter is excited to see what kind of impact these new volunteers will have on the local cemetery improvement scene. She pointed out that the Brussels Cemetery alone has more than its fair share of grave markers in need of some TLC. “At Brussels Cemetery, in the first four rows, there are over 100 tablet style stones that have fallen over and are lying flat on the ground...we’re going to learn how to get them upright. The ones that are lying down have deteriorated so much, and the ones that are standing aren't. These stones were purchased by their families, who intended for them to be standing and appreciated. A lot of the old stones have phrases on them, and a common phrase is ‘Gone But Not Forgotten’ - we should show these people they haven’t been forgotten.”
Carter will also be giving a free talk at the Goderich branch of the Huron County Library on Oct. 19 to further spread her passion for cemeteries and promote the CEHCO. The way she sees it, cemetery culture is for everybody. “It’s the one thing we all have in common, no matter your race, sex, age - we all know somebody that’s died.”