Click to see the photo essay: St John's Memorial Sunday (25 June 2023)
Located next to the church, St. John’s Cemetery was established in 1839 – the same year our historic church building was constructed.
Administration
Our cemetery operates under regulations covering the sale of interment rights, installation of monuments and care of grave sites, as well as the overall day-to-day management of the cemetery. Under these rules, the cemetery is administered by a cemetery board including the incumbent (rector) of the Parish, both wardens and three members elected at the church’s annual meeting, one of whom acts as chair. The board appoints its treasurer, secretary and a superintendent of the cemetery responsible for ongoing care and maintenance.
The excellent and beautiful condition of our cemetery is because of the hard work of our Superintendent and his assistant, whose contributions are gratefully acknowledged.
Interment rights and fees
Please see the document in this link for details, current as of April 2023. Or contact the Chair, St. John's Cemetery Board (see below).
Historical milestones of St. John’s Cemetery
The first burial here was that of George Clarke, who died May 4, 1839. (His remains were subsequently moved by his family to Maple Grove Cemetery near Hazeldean Road.) The first interment of a person who is still buried here was that of Jane Gainford on August 23, 1839.
In the early 1920s, a group of interested people, including L.E. Stanley, Thomas Watt, Alan Armstrong, Ida R. Armstrong, George Reed and Joseph Harwood, did significant maintenance work to improve the condition of the graveyard. They also initiated an endowment fund to pay for the upkeep of the cemetery on a continuing basis.
In 1928, Robert Richardson gave an additional parcel of land to the rector and wardens of St. John’s which almost doubled the size of the cemetery. In 1938, the St. John’s Memorial Cemetery Fund was incorporated by letters patent and control was through recommendations approved by the church’s annual membership meeting (Vestry).
This method of administration continued until 1960, when the new Ontario Cemetery Act laid down specific conditions for perpetual gravesite care – requiring that a certain percentage of the money from sale of interment rights be placed in a trust fund, and the interest used exclusively for the care and maintenance of the cemetery.
Parish members passed a motion in 1990 supporting expansion of the cemetery, leading to 396 new gravesites being laid out. In 2005, a 24-niche columbarium for cremation urns was installed in the cemetery, thanks to a bequest from the late Col. John Woolsey, a long-time member of the cemetery’s board. A second columbarium was installed in 2013, funded by a bequest from the late Jean Mooney to the cemetery.
Donations
In 2003, the Friends of St. John’s Cemetery was established to encourage regular financial support of the cemetery. An annual appeal for donations is made yearly on Memorial Sunday (usually the second-last Sunday in June). Donations for the maintenance of the cemetery are gratefully received at any time. In 2016, a special project was initiated for the installation of a gazebo to provide a shaded sitting area on the cemetery grounds. The gazebo was funded by memorial donations from members of the congregation, those who have family interred in our cemetery, and others with connections to our church.
Where any donation is made in memory of a loved one, and if the donor wishes, a special record is entered in the Memorial Book kept in the church, noting the name of the person or persons in respect of whom the donation has been made.
Cheques should be made payable to St. John’s Anglican Church, with a notation that the funds are for the cemetery.
Enquiries
Enquiries concerning the cemetery in general, purchase of interment rights, or donating to the cemetery should be directed by mail to the attention of the Chair, St. John's Cemetery Board, St. John’s Anglican Church, 325 Sandhill Road, Kanata, ON K2K 1X7, or via e-mail, or by telephoning the Parish Office.
