New monument in St. Eustache cemetery honours deceased

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This article was published 08/09/2015 (3850 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A monument engraved with about 200 names will be unveiled in St. Eustache’s Roman Catholic Church’s cemetery on Sat., Sept. 12 at 4 p.m.

After years of research by congregation members, led by Evelyn MacKay and Ken Beaudin, the monument will serve as a tribute to those buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves.

The local Chemache Committee is supporting the unveiling with a dinner and social evening following the 4 p.m. unveiling. Order of Manitoba recipient and former St. Eustache resident Karen Beaudin is the guest speaker at the dinner.

Committee president Sylvia Allard said the church was moved to its current site from Baie St. Paul in 1874 as the original site was often flooded. Some of the congregation’s early members were buried with simple wooden crosses marking their graves, and over time, the crosses deteriorated.

Local researchers had to pore over church records to discover the names of those who no longer had proper grave markers.

Allard said the Chemache Committee, formed in 2009, got involved in the project because of its mandate to help with French and Métis cultural activities and the history of St. Eustache.

“We try and focus on something in the community,” she said.

Last year the group held a fundraising social for the monument. Private donations were also used to pay for the granite structure and its engraving.

For more information on the unveiling celebration, call Sylvia at 204-353-2464, Philippe at 204-353-2586 or Doris at 204-353-4454.

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