Hi, I have heard of this type of practice in Europe where they don't have much room but didn't know it was happening in Canada. My impression of perpetual care is that we pay the cemeteries a designated amount of money up front and that money is invested and the care is carried on from the earnings of the investment. If invested properly and increases in the cost of perpetual care put in place as needed you would think that unless the cemetery is abandoned this could go on indefinitely. I had never heard of plots 12 feet deep. I was responsible for the burial of my parents in Hamilton and they had purchased what they thought was a 4 person family plot. My father died in 1994 and my mother in 1999. When I made arrangements for my mother I was told that if I wanted her buried at a depth of 8 ft then someone could be buried above at 6 ft. making the lot big enough for 8 people. I wish they had given me this information when my father was buried but because I wasn't he was buried at a depth of 6 ft. As it stands now since my mother purchased the plot and she thought the four of us would be buried in a line I have respected her wishes and only 4 will be 6 ft. under. You have to be a lawyer and know all the correct questions to ask before making this decisions. I've advised at least 5 relatives to enquire about this when someone has died and to my knowledge non of them had the information volunteered to them. Also at one time I didn't think that I would be buried in this plot but circumstances changed and thank heavens it happened before my mother passed because I was told that if she didn't sign for me to use the remaining spot there was a good chance that it would remain empty even though I was her only other child, held her Power of Attorney while she was living, and was Executor for her Will. They never refused to take my money for the arrangements though. All this discussion makes me wonder if 50 or 75 years from now they will turn us all over and start again. Val On 8 Nov 2004, at 19:40, Marc Wigle wrote: > Hi group - I recently became a director for our cemetery in Aylmer, > Quebec. Not having any experience in this matter, I decided to ask the > cemetery's maintenance guy tonight about the selling of stones. He > looked at me as if I had rocks in my head. His response absolutely > floored me. In our area, our cemetery is apparently the only one that > has perpetual care which he describes as being for the life of the > cemetery. According to him, ALL of the others operate on a lease basis > in that you lease a plot for 30 years and then after 30 years you or > whoever is responsible for the plot is asked to lease it again. If you > do not or you can't be contacted, the plot is re-leased. The stone is > removed, sold and ground down so that it can be re-used. There is a RC > cemetery not far from me that was founded in 1826 and there are no > stones from the 1800's. There is a pile of concrete at the back of the > cemetery from the bases of the plots that have recently been removed > making them available for resale. I asked him how deep the plots are > and he responded 12 feet so that another coffin can be put on top of > it later at the end of the first lease. Now this part really disgusts > me... I asked him what happens in 60 years when the two people's > leases have run out. Let's just say that no one is allowed to have a > concrete or steel casing around their coffin. > > I'm 45 years old but I feel like I was born yesterday after hearing > this... I know that we do things a little differently over here in the > belle province but this really bothers me. > > Marc > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "GEN" <gendreamer@wightman.ca> > To: <CA-ONT-CEMETERIES-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 10:45 AM > Subject: [ON-CEM] Selling monuments > > > > > > In response to note from the Gardening magazine reply. > > If was in fact, from a monument dealer, then no harm was done. That > > means > it > > never got to the place it was to go or their was a mistake on the > > stone. But is also states that the monument dealer and caretaker are > > the same. A sort of conflict of interest. Would you not agree? I > > know of this happening....the dealer and caretaker the same working > > just outside of the cemetery grounds. Make you wonder how they can > > separate one from the other. The only thing left to do as to ask the > > name of the dealer. If the writer of the story could answer this > > one question then everyone would be happy. > . > > We need to hear both sides of the story. > > > > Sheila > > > > > > ==== CA-ONT-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > > > > READ the taglines! > > Before you ask for a lookup ...check > > http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~silentguardians/ > > > > ============================== > > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and > > the areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 > > months. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > > > > > > > > ==== CA-ONT-CEMETERIES Mailing List ==== > FIELD OF STONES: > http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~clifford/index.htm Do you have > photos you like to submit ? Have you seen this website Save our > cemeteries! > > ============================== > Search our Immigration Records and view names from multiple ports > ranging from 1500s - 1900s. Over 23 million records to view. Learn > more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13967/rd.ashx > >