Violet Shearing (daughter of Francis William Shearing and Sarah Gray) was born 1915, and died 1984 in St Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario. She married William Straun on 29 Oct 1959.
Notes for Violet Shearing:
–My mother birth name Doris Marie Shearing had the same smile as Violet and it is easy to see that they
were related, amazing! Violets brother Cecil was my grandfather. Never knew any of them as he left
my grandmother with 4 girls moving to USA. The girls ended up in the Welland Orphanage my mom being
age 1 1/2 and being adopted at 3 1/2. Would love to correspond with any of Violets relatives. I would like
to know more about my grandfather. My cousins don’t know much about him. Carol Brown Parker
H 26BA
( )/Violet I./1915-1984/(Shearing)/Together Forever/ Married 10-29-59/(Praying hands) SEABROOKE (Praying hands)
Elmdale Memorial Park Cemetery, St Thomas, Ontario
History of Elmdale Cemetery, St. Thomas
In 1929 a group of men from Sarnia decided to establish a cemetery in St. Thomas. This was to be a different concept from the other local cemeteries as it was to be called a park lawn cemetery and have flat markers in it.
The property they chose was approximately 19 acres on the west half of Yarwood Farm. This land was bordered on the north by Elm Street, on the east by the London & Port Stanley railroad, and the on the west by Wilson Avenue.
Prior to becoming a cemetery, this property was owned by James H. Still who had a logging operation around 1898 – 1920. The barns used to house the horses is now the workshop for the cemetery. In 1903 the south end of the property was sold to St. Thomas and became the Southern County Fairgrounds. It is said that both Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakely performed at the circus around 1919. The original racetrack is still in the ground and is now used as the roadway throughout the cemetery.
The cemetery was established as the Elgin Cemetery Company operating Elmdale Memorial Park. In the possession of the current owners is a pamphlet that was used to encourage people to buy lots, and also lists the Officers and Directors for the company.
In 1953 the cemetery came under new management and ownership. It was to be converted from a parklawn cemetery into a modern garden cemetery. The area was broken down into a series of individual gardens, beautifully landscaped and planted, where there would be family burial estates. This idea was never really completed. At this time, the name of the company was changed to Elmdale Cemetery Company from Elgin Cemetery Company. The president was William Edward Mills of Sarnia, Blair Campbell Moore, vice president, and Frank Vincent, manager. They felt that the garden cemetery would increase the beauty of the cemetery even though it would take more work to maintain. There now are 50 flower beds and one hundred species of trees. A couple of the trees were marked as heritage trees by the Parks Department a few years ago. There are also several flower beds donated by family members in memory of a loved one, as well as several trees.
The unique stone wall that is on the west and north sides of the property was created by Dayton Mills and his assistants. The stone was brought from Kettle Creek in winter by sleighs and horses. The Shrine of the Good Shepherd was dedicated on June 26, 1955 and a Masonic Altar was erected in A Section in 1957. The first of the Columbariums was built in 1989 with the next three at the south end of the property in 1988.
Elmdale has always been privately owned. In was owned from 1961 – 1978 by Harold Stafford, and from 1878 – 1985 by Joseph Artibello of Mississauga, and from 1985 to the present by Frank & Patricia Artibello. They are the first owners to be involved in the day to day operation of the cemetery.
The original office for the cemetery was at 374 Talbot Street and at this time there were several salesmen employed by the cemetery. It then moved to 140 Wilson Avenue and the present office was built in 1984. There is presently one full time office person plus two outside workers all year, and a third outside worker from May to October.
The first burial took place on September 21, 1933, of Benjamin Clifford Honsinger, who had drowned the year before and had been entombed in the St. Thomas Cemetery Mausoleum.
The cemetery is divided into ten sections plus the columbariums. “A” section starts at the northeast side of the cemetery and follows a horseshow type pattern to Section “H” on the northwest side of the cemetery. There are also two sections in the middle of the cemetery at the north: the north oval; and in the south, the south oval. Further to being divided in sections, each lot is numbered with a round cement marker with the number of each grave on it.
The cemetery staff have kept fairly detailed information on each person buried in the cemetery: most of the obituary notices from the last 70 years and at one time a family history was also taken. The staff are in the process of putting this information into a computer.
At the present time, there is no charge for looking up family history.
The office address is: Elmdale Memorial Park Cemetery, 190 Wilson Avenue, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, N4R 3R3
——————————————————————————–
Section H is located at the north-west corner of the Cemetery at Elm street. Lots are numbered from the north-east corner beginning with 01 and continuing to the south. Numbering is continued at the north end of the next row. Burial plots are lettered alphabetically from the south to the north and are typed in the order in which they occur in the row. Plots 263, 264 & 265 are divided into rows within the plot. The first letter in the code ‘W’. ‘M’ or ‘E’ means West, Middle and East
More About Violet Shearing and William Straun:
Marriage: 29 Oct 1959
