Famous Canadian graves

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 […]

On my walk at Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, I visited the memorials remembering the victims and unidentified Catholic dead who perished when a collision of the Mont-Blanc and the Imo ships in Halifax harbour triggered the largest man-made explosion before the nuclear age. On December 6, 1917, a French cargo ship […]

On my arrival at Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, I visited Garrison Cemetery, among the oldest cemeteries in Canada and home to the oldest surviving English gravestone. It’s also the resting place of Rose Fortune, a Black businesswoman and Canada’s first self-appointed port constable, who kept order on the Annapolis Royal wharf for over two decades. […]

On my visit to Mount Pleasant Cemetery in midtown Toronto, I found the family plots of three generations of Weston’s. A dynasty started by George Weston and eventually passed on to his son, W. Garfield Weston, and finally to his son, Galen Weston. George Weston  It began years earlier when the Weston family relocated from […]

On my visit to Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto’s west end, I visited the grave of the country doctor best known for delivering and caring for the Dionne quintuplets — the first quintuplets known to survive early infancy anywhere in the world. On May 28, 1934, Dr. Dafoe, who ran a medical practice in Callander, […]

Visit the memorial plaque for Carl and Margaret Atwood at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto and learn how their lives helped shape writer Margaret Atwood’s imagination.

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 […]

While visiting the grave of Lester Pearson at beautiful McLaren Cemetery, in Wakefield, Quebec, I wandered around the grounds and found the grave of Canadian media legend and Senator, Betty Kennedy. Her grave was tucked away near the forested area of the cemetery overlooking the Gatineau Hills. Betty was born in Ottawa, Ontario, and started […]

On my bike ride from downtown Toronto, I arrived at Prospect Cemetery on St. Clair Avenue to visit the family graves of Canada’s fourteenth Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson. My first visit was to Lester’s immediate family plot where his father, The Reverend Edwin Arthur Pearson a Methodist minister and his mother Annie Sarah Bowles Pearson rest, along with […]

On my visit to Wakefield, Quebec, I brought along a lacrosse stick and baseball glove to visit the beautiful and quiet McLaren Cemetery, where former Prime Minister of Canada and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lester B. Pearson rests on a peaceful hillside overlooking the Gatineau Hills. But on this visit, my thoughts were less about […]

On my walk through Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx last year, I made a point of visiting the renowned Jazz Corner. There I found the grave of Miles Davis, along with the final resting places of several other legendary jazz musicians. It was one of the most memorable parts of my visit. A recent New […]