Philip Crawford

I visited the graves of three generations of the Smythe family, each buried in a different cemetery across Toronto and Muskoka. They were a family of achievers, but like many families, they were divided by conflict and discord, and their story has slowly faded from memory. Generation One: Albert Ernest Stafford Smythe Toronto Necropolis Albert […]

On my walk through the glen at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto, many hundred miles from Florenceville, New Brunswick, I came upon the grave of Canada’s “Potato King” and French fry pioneer, Wallace McCain, co-founder, with his brother Harrison, of McCain Foods. The brothers founded New Brunswick-based McCain Foods Ltd. in 1956, selling over $152,000 […]

King Harald V of Norway died on August 28, 2026, in Oslo, at the age of 89. The country lost a deeply popular monarch who had reigned since 1991 — over 35 years — making him Europe’s oldest reigning monarch at the time of his death. King Harald V was no ordinary king. He successfully […]

On September 4, 2026, Carolyn — surname withheld by request — became the first person in Australia to be laid to rest in a mushroom coffin. She was in her 70s. Her husband said the choice reflected her lifelong values: a commitment to giving back, to others and to nature alike. The coffin, known as […]

On my walk through historic St. James-the-Less Cemetery in downtown Toronto, I visited the grave of one of Canada’s greatest composers, conductors, music educators and writers, Godfrey Ridout. Godfrey was born in Toronto in 1918 and studied at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in the very city where he was raised. That alone set him […]

On my walk in High Park, on the west side of Toronto, I visited the historic iron gated grave and monument built from granite boulders of the generous couple who, in 1873, gave their cherished estate to the citizens of Toronto — the land we know today as High Park: John and Jemima Howard. John […]

On my late winter visit to Riverside Cemetery in Lindsay, Ontario, with snow and frost slowly melting, I visited the grave of Ontario’s 16th premier — a man known in his day as “Old Man Ontario” and “the Silver Fox,” Leslie Frost. Leslie was born in Orillia, Ontario, and later attended the University of Toronto. […]

On my walk through Toronto’s Necropolis Cemetery in Cabbagetown, I stopped at the scattering garden where the cremated remains of Carol Anne Letheren rest. Carol Anne was born in Owen Sound, Ontario, and raised in Guelph. A natural athlete, she competed in a range of sports, including four years of varsity volleyball at the University […]

On my rainy day walk at Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto’s west end, I visited the family plot of Roy Victor Jones, a Canadian soldier from Toronto who died at Vimy Ridge during the First World War. He’s buried overseas at Canadian Cemetery No. 2, on the grounds of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in […]

On my walk at historic Necropolis Cemetery in Toronto, I visited the grave of Canadian actor, Tom Kneebone. Born in New Zealand, Kneebone received his theatrical training at the Bristol Old Vic. In 1959, he toured North America with the London Old Vic Company and left to immigrate to Canada where he joined both the […]

On my visit to York Cemetery in Toronto, I discovered the grave of corporate lawyer, partner, and great legal mind, Garry Hoy, who fell to his death on July 9, 1993, from the 24th floor of his office building trying to demonstrate the strength of his office windows. The 38-year-old lawyer with the law firm […]

On a recent visit to historic Drummond Hill Cemetery in Niagara Falls, Ontario, I discovered the grave of Karel Soucek, the Czech-born daredevil who became the eighth person to successfully go over Niagara Falls and survive. His grave lies in the same historic cemetery as that of Laura Secord, the Canadian patriot whose name would […]