There’s no shortage of stories along the rows of First Presbyterian Church cemetery, where the parents of Sir Sandford Fleming – Andrew and Elizabeth Fleming – rest.
As does Alfred Staples, founder of Scenic Caves and one of the British Home Children, alongside sea captains, shipworkers, nurses and others who have formed Collingwood’s rich history.
This September marks the 150th anniversary of the cemetery. While the cemetery itself is a monument to the past, the future of the cemetery looks bright with more than 100 years left of space still remaining and future plans for a pet cemetery and green burials on-site.
In a red brick building on the cemetery grounds sits Theressa Hanley, cemetery caretaker. She’s one of two part-time caretakers, and has done the job for seven years following her retirement from a career as a dental hygienist.
Surrounded by papers, a diagram of future plans for green burials and historic records showing all the people laid to rest in the cemetery dating back to the late 1800s, her interest in her work taking care of the dead following their passing is clear.
“It’s a community, because the same people are in here often,” said Hanley. “A cemetery is so much for both the living and the dead. There are so many people who really enjoy this space, and I’m included in that.”
She said it can be an interesting experience building relationships over time with people who come to visit their family members who have passed, only for them to pass one day too with the cemetery also as their final resting place.
“They become part of this cemetery community, where you know their name,” she said.
First Presbyterian Church Cemetery sits on 15 acres on Poplar Side Road right on the border between Collingwood and Clearview Township, sandwiched between the Trinity United Cemetery and Westmount Baptist Cemetery.
The cemetery opened in 1874, however the first recorded burial wasn’t until 1884. In the historic and somewhat tattered records, names, genders, ages, residences, occupations and causes of death are listed for everyone interred on the site, starting in 1884. There are sections that show periods in the early 1900s where the majority of people interred all died of pneumonia. In 1918 between October and November alone, there were 18 pneumonia deaths of young people (under the age of 36).
In the 1930s, the red chapel building was constructed, including the caretaker office.
Over her years of serving as caretaker, one instance of something spooky happening in the cemetery stands out in Hanley’s mind. She recalls one gentleman in particular named Jack who used to come to the cemetery and sit on one specific bench to visit his wife’s grave.
“If it was her birthday, there would be balloons. If it was their anniversary, there were flowers,” she said. “When I first started, I installed a new bench for him.”
Hanley said Jack would visit everyday. At some point everyday, Hanley recalled he would say the same thing to her.
“‘It’s a heckuva bench,’ he would say,” she said.
Eventually, Jack also died, and was interred in the cemetery alongside his wife. A short time later, a new gentleman came with a similar purpose – to visit his wife at the cemetery, who was buried in the same area, and the new gentleman sat on the same bench. While Hanley said she initially gave him his space, after a few visits she came over to introduce herself.
“We were talking away, and he said, ‘This is one heckuva bench,’” she said. “I cried. It really is!”
Over the years there have been many interesting stories either of the people who reside in the cemetery, or of visitors.
In addition to flowers, photos and small gifts set tenderly on gravestones, there are other items that sometimes tell a story all their own, such as an empty wine glass or beer bottle, which Hanley said is a common occurrence.
She mentions the story of a gentleman with a particularly tense relationship with his dead father, who would come annually to visit his father’s stone and set off a firework to celebrate that his dad was gone.
As the cemetery is dark and discreet at night, it’s a sometimes popular site for amorous couples to visit for a tryst.
“It can be a very active place with cars coming in,” said Hanley, with a laugh. “They think nobody is paying attention, but they are.”
One night, the caretaker at the time and his wife took matters into their own hands. The caretaker and his wife dressed up as a ghost to scare away the couple, and were successful.
“It was the last time he saw them in the cemetery,” said Hanley.
In 2021, the story was immortalized through Gaslight Theatre’s Cemetery Stories, where all the productions that year were retellings of stories of people in the cemetery, performed among the tombstones.
Over time, Hanley said she’s seen first-hand how trends in death and dying have changed.
“When I was young, every burial that happened was a casket burial. Now, (most) people choose cremation,” she said.
According to data from the Cremation Association of North America, in 2006, 55.8 per cent of deaths in Canada resulted in cremation. That number has risen by an annual growth rate of 1.08 per cent per year and as of 2021, 74.8 per cent of deaths in Canada result in cremation.
“Every two years here, we’re installing a new columbarium,” she said, adding that the structures sit above ground and contain urns, with space for two urns in each spot.
The word columbarium comes from the Latin columba meaning dove. It refers to a structure originally intended to house two doves, but the concept is also now used in cemeteries to house two sets of remains.
These days, there are new trends that Hanley is working to accommodate at the cemetery. One is having a mass grave site for pet burials, which she has dug out adjacent to the cemetery grounds but hasn’t yet started accepting pets at this time. According to the rules by the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, pet cemeteries must be separated out from human burials.
“People are always saying, where can we bury our pet? We’re making a garden. Once the internment happens, will will plant it out so it will become a garden joined by paths,” she said.
Another project for Hanley includes planning for the cemetery to have a section for green burials.
Green burials, also called natural burials, involve being buried in a biodegradable casket in a burial site that would resemble a meadow or field. The grave can be marked by a rock or plant, and the location is recorded, as is required by law.
There are currently 11 cemeteries across southern Ontario that offer green burial as an option, but once it rolls out at First Presbyterian, it will mark the first time it will be an option for those wanting Simcoe County to be their final resting place.
“For the past five years, I’ve been investigating it,” said Hanley. “It’s the oldest idea there is.”
She said there are no firm dates planned for when green burial will officially open up as an option for people as the cemetery is a non-profit and are bound by their annual budgets, she plans to continue working away at the project year-over-year until it’s ready.
“There’s only so many dollars,” she said. “The nice thing about cemeteries is, there’s oodles of time. It will keep growing as it can.”
“I’m hoping it’s within the next few years.”
First Presbyterian Cemetery will be holding a 150th anniversary celebration on Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. on the cemetery grounds, with a rain date of Oct. 6. Attendees are asked to bring their own lawn chairs.
