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The pandemic has impacted all our lives and we hope that everyone of you have managed well and found some positives in these historic times. Most important, we hope everyone is in good health!
As you know, we had to cancel any plans of a spring 2020 Memorial Service at the cemetery but hope 2022 is a possibility ... more on this to follow!
Sharlene Newton has been our grass cutter for many years and continues to cut grass for us and manage some of the hedge trimming. Many thanks Sharlene!
Sharlene's son helped us do a major hedge trimming and remove some dead cedar sections a few years ago. Last fall Bill and Harold pulled out the roots from these sections and replanted. Hopefully these sections will now fill in!
Over time, headstones 'blow in the wind' and start tilting in various directions. No exceptions in our cemetery!
As a result of these winds of time, we have identified a collection of headstones in the historic section of the cemetery that need straightening and repair.
Normally it is the responsibility of the owners and family members to do headstone maintenance but because these headstones are so old and many of historical significance, we feel we need to step in and take the initiative.
To that end, we ask our cemetery supporters, especially those descendants of these headstones, to help us with donations for this important preservation work.
Here is a list of headstones and work we have asked Yolkowski Monuments to do with estimates. Work is currently scheduled for end of July!
(Click on Ref # to open page on more info about the headstone.)
| Ref# | Photo | Description / History: | Work: | Estimate: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 |  |
Duncan McEachern - Marion McDonald 1801-1866, 1805-1866: Settled in Lochaber Bay approx. 1835 with MacLachlans and McCallums |
Clean. | $120 |
| D13 |  |
Mary McCallum 1832-1868: Daughter of John McCallum and Margaret McDonald. |
Was repaired – now in 2 pieces. To be repaired with glue and pins. | $300 |
| K5 |  |
John C MacCallum 1875-1940: grandson of John and Margaret (McDonald) McCallum and also Robert and Mary (McDonald) McLachlan. |
Tilting east: new foundation. | $750 |
| I9 |  |
John Angus – Christena Kennedy 1843-1921: Father of Jean MacLachlan (Angus). Jean married Rory MacLachlan (the bull fighter). |
Big stone and tilting south: Pour a new foundation provided they can move headstone with pry-bars and by “walking” it off location. | $914 |
| M22 |  |
Hugh McNeil – Christina McMillan 1845-1928, 1853-1928 |
Tilting south: shim and crushed stone to straighten. | $150 |
| D10 |  |
Robert McLachlan – Mary McDonald 1800-1894, 1798-1879: Settled in Lochaber Bay approx. 1835 with McEacherns and McCallums |
Tilting north-east: shim and crushed stone to straighten. (Too fragile to lift and do a new foundation). | $200 |
| F4 |  |
John McCallum – Elizabeth King
1801-1882, 1813-1900: Elizabeth is John's 2nd wife. John and Margaret (McDonald - 1st wife) settled in Lochaber Bay approx. 1835 with McEacherns and McLachlans. |
Tilting east: shim and crushed stone to straighten. | $200 |
| B13 |  |
Finlay McMillan 1816-1868 |
Tilting and loose on base: shim and crushed stone to straighten. Caulk to seal stone on base. | $200 |
Lochaber Bay Cemetery Company
c/o William Lamb, Treasurer
246 Wall Rd
Navan, Ontario
K4B 1H9
Donations by e-transfer can be made to:
donate@lochabercemetery.org
Enter your email address or mailing address in the message window so we can send you a receipt!
Not only do headstones 'blow over' but their inscriptions become illegible as acid rain and other environmental chemicals eat into the limestone and marble headstones. Here is an interesting link on weathering of gravestones ⇗
We have a number of headstones in the historic section of the cemetery where inscriptions have become extremely hard to read and in some cases completely illegible.
The good news is that in the 1980's Marion McLachlan wrote out all the inscriptions ( LochaberBayCemetery-MarionMacLachlan-May1985.pdf .⇗ ) and we've captured her wonderful script for each headstone on our website ( Headstones ⇗ ).
The difficulty we have is that no amount of cleaning will return these inscriptions to a legible state. Re-scribing is not possible and 'replacement' would destroy the history behind these headstones.
Our proposed solution is to install 6x6x6 inch granite headstone markers (with inscribed reference numbers) beside each of the 68 headstones in the old section of the cemetery. This will permit visitors to accurately retrieve the virtual inscriptions from our website or from a reference document deposited in our 'Guest Kiosk'. (There is excellent cell data reception at the cemetery from the tower across the road.)
Lochaber Bay Cemetery Company
c/o William Lamb, Treasurer
246 Wall Rd
Navan, Ontario
K4B 1H9
Donations by e-transfer can be made to:
donate@lochabercemetery.org
Enter your email address or mailing address in the message window so we can send you a receipt!
In the spring of 2022, we propose having a "Headstone Appreciation Day - Memorial Service" where volunteers can come, install some markers, attend the Service and a Social after.
We recently installed a small weatherproof box on a stand in the south-eastern corner of the cemetery. Inside this box is the Lochaber Bay Cemetery Guest Book which we encourage all visitors to open, read and to record their visits.
In the future, our plan is to provide a small information booklet where visitors can look up a Reference Headstone Marker and clearly read the headstone inscriptions and learn about some of the family connections. This booklet would be a 'paper subset' of what is available on our website.
Many thanks for your continued support.
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Headstone photos mostly by Elaine Howes - copyright © 2010-2021