I’ve been asked to do a Musings on how to purchase a grave in Chatham-Kent…
Every cemetery in Ontario is governed by the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act which makes some things the same. However, some cemeteries are run by Municipalities and some cemeteries are run by a Board of Directors. Locally, Evergreen Cemetery and Maple Leaf/St. Anthony’s Cemetery are operated by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent but the surrounding cemeteries such as Greenwood Cemetery, Pardoville-Union Cemetery, Merlin Cemetery, Stewart Cemetery, Ouvry Cemetery, Craford Cemetery, Burk Cemetery, Morpeth Cemetery etc are operated by individual Boards of Directors. So although there are some rules that every cemetery must follow, there are allowances for each cemetery to set some of their own rules (e.g. pricing).
When it comes time to purchase graves in a cemetery, I can advise you of who the contact person is at each cemetery, but I’m not the person who will actually sell you a grave. I can also share some things that I have learned about each cemeteries operating rules but you should always consult with the person or office that operates the cemetery for clarification. The phone number for the Municipal Cemeteries Office is 519-360-1998 and a gentleman named Jim Turner is the contact person there who you will want to speak with. Should you want to get information on another cemetery in Chatham-Kent, don’t hesitate to call me.
Finally I want to stress to folks again that if you have purchased a number of graves in your own name, it is a whole lot easier to assign each grave now to the person who is going to have the use of it rather than leaving it for your family to do later. Sometimes to trace the ownership of a grave back to see who has the authority to sign off on an interment can’t be completed for an interment that needs to take place in two or three days. I have been working with a family for a few months now and am just in the home stretch of being allowed to inter an urn. Another family has abandoned their quest to have an urn interred because of the cost.
Until next week,
Marc
