I wrote to Canadian Gardening magazine this morning and just received this response. In my opinion, the issue is not addressed. While Mr. Walker may have purchased the stone from the grounds of the monument maker, the tombstone must have originally been in the cemetery and had been removed by the graveyard custodian. I have been looking over the Ontario Cemeteries Act and it includes the following: Repairing markers 48. If a marker in a cemetery presents a risk to public safety because it is unstable, the owner of the cemetery shall do whatever is necessary by way of repairing, resetting or laying down the marker so as to remove the risk. R.S.O. 1990, c. C.4, s. 48. I have also written to the Norfolk County Genealogy Society. My request to Canadian Gardening magazine for the name of the cemetery or contact info for Mr Walker has gone unanswered as you can see below. Mary L. ----- Forwarded message from Sandra MacGregor <macgregor@canadiangardening.com> ----- Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2004 10:16:03 -0500 From: Sandra MacGregor <macgregor@canadiangardening.com> Reply-To: Sandra MacGregor <macgregor@canadiangardening.com> Subject: Re: Magazine Article To: mleuniss@uoguelph.ca Hello Actually, we have been getting quite a few letters regarding the tombstone and we will be addressing the issue in our March edition. We asked Mr. Walker about it and he clarified matters; apparently the stone had been on the grounds of a monument stone cutter and graveyard custodian, and it was not directly from a cemetery. Thank you for writing with your concerns Regards, -- Sandra MacGregor, Assistant Editor Canadian Gardening magazine 340 Ferrier St., Ste. 210 Markham, Ont., L3R 2Z5 telephone: 905/475-8440, ext. 122 fax: 905/475-9246 ----- End forwarded message -----

Did you know that monument companies will repossess gravestones if the stone is not paid for. This happens even if the stone has been engraved and set in the graveyard. My husband and I went to a company to see about purchasing a gravestone for a member of our family. We saw several stones placed along a fence - they were all engraved with names and dates. When we questioned the owner of the monument company he explained that the stones were not paid for therefore he had no choice but to repossess them even though he could not reuse them. His explanation was that if the stones were not paid for and he did not repossess them the families would tell others not to bother to pay as the company would not do anything about it and he would lose money and possibly his business.

I can't imagine that anyone would have a problem with this practice. He's probably done everything that he can to get paid and this is the last resort. I'm sure that if the buyer had given him post-dated cheques for a reasonable amount he wouldn't have repossessed the stone. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Betty Hughson" <tippytoe@goeaston.net> To: <CA-ONT-CEMETERIES-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 10:56 PM Subject: [ON-CEM] CEMETERY MONUMENTS > Did you know that monument companies will repossess gravestones if the stone > is not paid for. This happens even if the stone has been engraved and set > in the graveyard. My husband and I went to a company to see about > purchasing a gravestone for a member of our family. We saw several stones > placed along a fence - they were all engraved with names and dates. When we > questioned the owner of the monument company he explained that the stones > were not paid for therefore he had no choice but to repossess them even > though he could not reuse them. His explanation was that if the stones were > not paid for and he did not repossess them the families would tell others > not to bother to pay as the company would not do anything about it and he > would lose money and possibly his business. > > > ==== CA-ONT-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > > READ the taglines! > Before you ask for a lookup ...check > http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~silentguardians/ > > ============================== > New! OneWorldTree. Building Trees. Connecting Families. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13970/rd.ashx > >