Welcome to the home of the Hedley Cemetery Society

We were incorporated as a society in British Columbia in 2013 (Incorporation No. S-0061378) and have a 30-year lease (2016 – 2046) with the Province to maintain and operate the Hedley Cemetery. It is under our exclusive control subject only to meeting the conditions set out in the lease, such as not building permanent structures on the land.  We anticipate that the lease will be renewed at the end of the 30-year period since it is for a cemetery and there is no alternative use for the land.

Cemetery Location

The cemetery is located about a kilometer east of the town of Hedley on the north side of Highway 3, which is also known as the Crowsnest Highway. There is a short gravel road leading to the cemetery and this road is part of the land leased from the Province. The entrance is marked by several signs. 

Cemetery History

The first burial at the Hedley Cemetery dates from 1905, making the cemetery well over a century old. As can be seen from the list of known burials, there are many families interred in the cemetery, some spanning several generations.  Note the spike in burials in the 1918 – 1920 period as a result of the influenza pandemic. Some of the others buried at the cemetery died in accidents at the Mascot and Nickel Plate mines when they were operating.  We believe that a small number of the burials may have been re-interments from other cemeteries in the Hedley area.

Burials ceased at the cemetery a number of years ago when the former operator of the cemetery, which at one time was on private land, had the land default to the Province and it became Crown land.

This led to the formation of the Hedley Cemetery Society by a group of volunteers with the objective of taking control of the cemetery for maintenance and burials.

Hedley Museum

For more information on the history of the cemetery and Hedley in general, please visit the Hedley Museum website … http://www.hedleymuseum.ca/ …. or drop by the museum when in town.

Maintenance

The vast majority of the maintenance currently undertaken at the cemetery is by volunteers, most of whom live in Hedley and/or have family buried at the cemetery. Much of the current effort is focused on clearing out brush and reducing the risk of a fire. Work is also being undertaken on fixing up some of the graves that are in disrepair.

We welcome individuals or groups fixing up the graves of any family members or friends in the cemetery as long as there is no disturbance to any graves. No excavation of any kind is permitted.

Interment

We are currently working on obtaining a permit to reopen the cemetery for interments, including both urns and caskets. Since the cemetery lands are owned by the Province, plots cannot be sold. Rather, the cost to be interred will be based on the cost of the service provided (e.g., excavation, burial liner, marker).  We will provide details on these costs once we have a permit, but we expect that they will be similar to the costs at other cemeteries in the area, such as Keremeos and Princeton.

No interments are permitted at the cemetery without the authorization of the Society.

There is sufficient space available at the cemetery to accommodate many more interments.  There will be some flexibility in selecting a location, with our guidance, although we want new plots to generally be in close proximity to existing plots for ease of maintenance. Where there is a wish to be placed close to an existing family member or friend interred in the cemetery, we will make every reasonable effort to accommodate (recognizing that there are regulations that we must follow that dictate the space between plots, plots depths, etc.)

Society Directors (2018 – 2019)

Ed Minshull	Eric Vance
Joe Roberts	Beryl Wallace
Margaret Terry	Ruth Wooden

Financial Support

The Society is run by volunteers who receive no financial compensation.

The Society currently has a healthy bank balance thanks to grants provided in the past by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the Province of BC, as well as contributions by individuals and families wishing to support the Society.  Once the cemetery is open again for burials, we anticipate that much of our revenue will come from that source.

We welcome all contributions, no matter the amount, to support the work of the Society.  Cheques can be mailed to the address below. We are unable to issue receipts for tax purposes because we are not a registered charity.

Contact

Mail: Hedley Cemetery Society, PO Box 209, Hedley, BC V0X 1K0

Direct: Eric Vance: ericvance@shaw.ca  or 604-469-3325