My mother's uncle is Frank Millward, and we would love to be able to honor him with a new gravestone. He moved to Canada in the 1940's, leaving his siblings here in Washington State. His infrequent letters eventually stopped, and his sisters contacted the police. My mother was only six when he passed away, and she never met him. I requested and received his hospital file from Essondale several years ago, and my mom has always wanted to come up to pay her respects. We thank you for all your hard work and research, and cannot imagine the hours of dedication you have put into this. I would be happy to hear how we can go about ordering a headstone, and coming for a visit. I look forward to your e-mail, and would be happy to share more about what we know about his life.
I was certain as soon as I read the article on May 15, 2013 in The Record, that I would find my step-grandfather buried here. I just came onto your website tonight and typed in his name. Sure enough, here he is. My grandfather had passed away in 1909 and my grandmother remarried a few years later to William. He was killed during World War I. She married his brother, George and he ended up in Essondale in the late 1920's due to Paranoid Schizophrenia. He passed away, January 30, 1951 due to a coronary occlusion. I just pulled his death certificate off the BC Archives website and confirmed this information.
Thank you so very much for doing the work you have done, Michael de Courcy. I will go and look up the Woodlands Memorial Garden and I will mention it to my cousins. Warmest regards.
From the article in the Royal City Record newspaper:
Marie Montalbetti and de Courcy met at the cemetery in early May to map out the exact location of her grandmother's grave. They were able to find it using the GPS coordinates and a tape measure. Anyone who visits can find a small orange tie near the centre of the cemetery.
"When I went out to the site I felt really emotional because I thought 'my goodness, I've finally found her,'" Montalbetti said. "I think it's amazing what (Michael's) done."
The experience provided answers to questions that couldn't have been answered without de Courcy's help, she said.
"My project gives people the opportunity to reestablish a connection with the actual ground that their family are buried in," he said. "It's closure, in a way. It's a gap in their genealogy that they've kind of filled." The project is also about New Westminster, and showcasing an important part of its history. No matter how you feel about Woodlands, everyone in the city is linked to the site, de Courcy said.
From your website I discovered the block and plot numbers regarding my grandmother who died in the former Essondale institution. When I visit the site will it be fairly easy to track the plot?
Many thanks. I found this website very interesting and informative.
Greetings Ann, good to hear from family! Oh my gosh, didn't realize Maryanne passed away, I am so sorry! I spent time with her and Marylin on occasion and I knew she was ill but hadn't heard of her passing. My mom also passed four years ago and about a year before Marylin passed so I know it can be a difficult time. I will have to let my dad (richard Pickering) know.
You are descended from Anna (Hanna pickering) the youngest of the 12 siblings. She is still alive in Vernon in a full care fasciltiy as I understand. Our G Grandparents are Emily Mcneill and James Pickering. Emily's parents are Jane George (nee Mcneill) and Alfred Mcneill. Jane was native from head Lake or near Coleville (I am still finding out about her) and Alfred was Haida and American. Alfred was from Boston and very high up with the HBC. My grandfather is your uncle Alf in which your mom stayed with. I have heard many stories about your grandfather Vandam and am quite envious you got to spend time on Blue Nose!lol
please feel free to call me, your mom shared a few stories with me:)
I just came across this story. I am also related to you. My name is Ann my mother was raised in Vernon(Lumby). Her name is Maryanne Traviss her parents are Firman VanDamme and Anna(Hanna)
VanDamme. She moved to Burnaby and stayed with her Auntie Polly and Uncle Alf which are Marilyns parents in 1960 while she went to Nursing school. I grew up spending summers on Bluenose mtn with my Grandfather on his farm. My mother has recently passed away. Do you know which of the children I would be decended from?
I have just discovered (yesterday) that my great-aunt, Elizabeth Dargie Rankin, was a resident at Essondale in the 1930s, and was buried in the Woodlands Cemetery on September 21, 1939. She and her husband, my great-uncle, Fred Rankin, came to Canada from Scotland in 1919. They were witnesses at my grandfather's wedding in Drumheller in 1923, and after that, the trail went cold. I don't believe that they had any children. My great-uncle Fred died a few years later in Prince George, which coincidentally is where I live. We had no idea that a relative was buried here. Thank you very much for all of your work in honouring the people who are buried at Woodlands. If there is anything that I could contribute to your work, I would be more than pleased to do so. Thank you again and I look forward to visiting where my great-aunt is buried.
Hello Pam, I have been doing research for some time on the Woodlands Memorial Garden as a doctoral student at Simon Fraser University. I would be happy to share further information, and would love to know more about your journey. Please feel free to contact me on this thread- Pat Feindel.
I have been doing research on the Woodlands Memorial Garden as a graduate student at Simon Fraser University, and helping relatives locate more information. If you would like to talk to me please leave a message on this thread,
In 2006, my husband Hans born in 1953 the youngest son of Joseph Hans Rosenbeck spent quite a bit of time trying to track down his father's grave site. The more we investigated, the more we realized that we may never be able to actually pinpoint where he was buried.
Joseph was an enterprising young man and brought his family from East Germany to Frankfurt to Canada to built a future. He was a brickworker at the mine in Wells BC when he developed a brain tumour (the family felt it occured through two bad blows to his head - one while building in Germany when he fell and another when he was struck by a piece of wood).He was a bright, motivated young man and he began to have difficulty. The doctor sent him to Vancouver for treatment. He ended up in Essendale. That must have been amazingly difficult for him. Next his wife, Johanna, heard was that he had died. She could not make the trip to Vancouver as she had no means and no English (and she had a baby and a yound child). He died alone and his caretaker and family apparently attended his burial. We wanted to place flowers on his grave. I know it is so very late but.... we felt it was time he was honoured.
You have no idea how wonderful to see Joseph Hans Rosenbeck's name show up when clicked. He existed. I cannot wait to show his son.
My mother's uncle is Frank Millward, and we would love to be able to honor him with a new gravestone. He moved to Canada in the 1940's, leaving his siblings here in Washington State. His infrequent letters eventually stopped, and his sisters contacted the police. My mother was only six when he passed away, and she never met him. I requested and received his hospital file from Essondale several years ago, and my mom has always wanted to come up to pay her respects. We thank you for all your hard work and research, and cannot imagine the hours of dedication you have put into this. I would be happy to hear how we can go about ordering a headstone, and coming for a visit. I look forward to your e-mail, and would be happy to share more about what we know about his life.
I was certain as soon as I read the article on May 15, 2013 in The Record, that I would find my step-grandfather buried here. I just came onto your website tonight and typed in his name. Sure enough, here he is. My grandfather had passed away in 1909 and my grandmother remarried a few years later to William. He was killed during World War I. She married his brother, George and he ended up in Essondale in the late 1920's due to Paranoid Schizophrenia. He passed away, January 30, 1951 due to a coronary occlusion. I just pulled his death certificate off the BC Archives website and confirmed this information.
Thank you so very much for doing the work you have done, Michael de Courcy. I will go and look up the Woodlands Memorial Garden and I will mention it to my cousins. Warmest regards.
From the article in the Royal City Record newspaper:
Marie Montalbetti and de Courcy met at the cemetery in early May to map out the exact location of her grandmother's grave. They were able to find it using the GPS coordinates and a tape measure. Anyone who visits can find a small orange tie near the centre of the cemetery.
"When I went out to the site I felt really emotional because I thought 'my goodness, I've finally found her,'" Montalbetti said. "I think it's amazing what (Michael's) done."
The experience provided answers to questions that couldn't have been answered without de Courcy's help, she said.
"My project gives people the opportunity to reestablish a connection with the actual ground that their family are buried in," he said. "It's closure, in a way. It's a gap in their genealogy that they've kind of filled." The project is also about New Westminster, and showcasing an important part of its history. No matter how you feel about Woodlands, everyone in the city is linked to the site, de Courcy said.
See the full article, http://bit.ly/181JzGw
From your website I discovered the block and plot numbers regarding my grandmother who died in the former Essondale institution. When I visit the site will it be fairly easy to track the plot?
Many thanks. I found this website very interesting and informative.
Greetings Ann, good to hear from family! Oh my gosh, didn't realize Maryanne passed away, I am so sorry! I spent time with her and Marylin on occasion and I knew she was ill but hadn't heard of her passing. My mom also passed four years ago and about a year before Marylin passed so I know it can be a difficult time. I will have to let my dad (richard Pickering) know.
You are descended from Anna (Hanna pickering) the youngest of the 12 siblings. She is still alive in Vernon in a full care fasciltiy as I understand. Our G Grandparents are Emily Mcneill and James Pickering. Emily's parents are Jane George (nee Mcneill) and Alfred Mcneill. Jane was native from head Lake or near Coleville (I am still finding out about her) and Alfred was Haida and American. Alfred was from Boston and very high up with the HBC. My grandfather is your uncle Alf in which your mom stayed with. I have heard many stories about your grandfather Vandam and am quite envious you got to spend time on Blue Nose!lol
please feel free to call me, your mom shared a few stories with me:)
Lisa
I just came across this story. I am also related to you. My name is Ann my mother was raised in Vernon(Lumby). Her name is Maryanne Traviss her parents are Firman VanDamme and Anna(Hanna)
VanDamme. She moved to Burnaby and stayed with her Auntie Polly and Uncle Alf which are Marilyns parents in 1960 while she went to Nursing school. I grew up spending summers on Bluenose mtn with my Grandfather on his farm. My mother has recently passed away. Do you know which of the children I would be decended from?
Ann
I have just discovered (yesterday) that my great-aunt, Elizabeth Dargie Rankin, was a resident at Essondale in the 1930s, and was buried in the Woodlands Cemetery on September 21, 1939. She and her husband, my great-uncle, Fred Rankin, came to Canada from Scotland in 1919. They were witnesses at my grandfather's wedding in Drumheller in 1923, and after that, the trail went cold. I don't believe that they had any children. My great-uncle Fred died a few years later in Prince George, which coincidentally is where I live. We had no idea that a relative was buried here. Thank you very much for all of your work in honouring the people who are buried at Woodlands. If there is anything that I could contribute to your work, I would be more than pleased to do so. Thank you again and I look forward to visiting where my great-aunt is buried.
Hello Pam, I have been doing research for some time on the Woodlands Memorial Garden as a doctoral student at Simon Fraser University. I would be happy to share further information, and would love to know more about your journey. Please feel free to contact me on this thread- Pat Feindel.
I have been doing research on the Woodlands Memorial Garden as a graduate student at Simon Fraser University, and helping relatives locate more information. If you would like to talk to me please leave a message on this thread,
Pat Feindel
In 2006, my husband Hans born in 1953 the youngest son of Joseph Hans Rosenbeck spent quite a bit of time trying to track down his father's grave site. The more we investigated, the more we realized that we may never be able to actually pinpoint where he was buried.
Joseph was an enterprising young man and brought his family from East Germany to Frankfurt to Canada to built a future. He was a brickworker at the mine in Wells BC when he developed a brain tumour (the family felt it occured through two bad blows to his head - one while building in Germany when he fell and another when he was struck by a piece of wood).He was a bright, motivated young man and he began to have difficulty. The doctor sent him to Vancouver for treatment. He ended up in Essendale. That must have been amazingly difficult for him. Next his wife, Johanna, heard was that he had died. She could not make the trip to Vancouver as she had no means and no English (and she had a baby and a yound child). He died alone and his caretaker and family apparently attended his burial. We wanted to place flowers on his grave. I know it is so very late but.... we felt it was time he was honoured.
You have no idea how wonderful to see Joseph Hans Rosenbeck's name show up when clicked. He existed. I cannot wait to show his son.
Thank you.
Kelli
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