Elizabeth Marshall could hardly believe her eyes when she noticed that the headstone for her grandparents appeared to be missing when she passed the Gibraltar Presbyterian Cemetery on her way home from a busy day.
On the morning of June 20, Marshall was on her way to a meeting in neighbouring Grey Highlands and the headstone of her grandparents and children (Donald and Rebecca Franklin (Livingstone) and children Archie, Samuel, John and Catherine) was in place. The headstone is located in the centre of the inactive cemetery and is easily visible from the road.
On her way home, at first glance, it looked like the headstone was gone.
“I thought: somebody stole the headstone. It was the strangest thing,” Marshall said.
Marshall immediately stopped and investigated further and discovered that the headstone had been removed or knocked off its base, moved a short distance and turned around. The marker was now sitting on the ground a few feet away from the base.
Marshall initially suspected an unusual case of vandalism, although there were no other cases of damaged or disturbed headstones in the small rural cemetery on the 4th Line and Sideroad 3 south of Gibraltar that she could see. She notified both the local OPP and the Town of The Blue Mountains about the situation.
“It’s the strangest thing, the OPP officer was very perplexed,” said Marshall. “The craziest part was it would probably take four or five people to move it.”
Marshall’s family roots in the local community run deep. Her grandfather was a school board trustee many years ago and her parents ran the store in Gibraltar for a number of years. She said the roots of the peonies flowers at the gravesite of her grandparents are over 100 years old and were planted by her grandmother after her grandfather died.
Concerned about the headstone now resting on the ground, Marshall set out to organize a team of relatives to come to replace the stone on the base and reseal it to protect it from the elements. However, Marshall cancelled her crew when told by town officials that the “cemetery committee” would have to inspect the situation.
She said she was disappointed by the town’s reaction to the situation and the absence of answers from municipal officials about what had happened. With the lack of obvious damage to other headstones in the cemetery, Marshall wondered if the moving of her grandparents headstone was the result of a maintenance situation gone awry.
“I’d like to know what happened,” she said, wondering if the headstone had been moved during a maintenance effort that wasn’t finished. “Was somebody concerned it was going to fall over? Was somebody doing maintenance?”
The mystery was solved a few days later when town officials confirmed for CollingwoodToday that the headstone had accidentally been knocked over when the grass at the cemetery was being cut.
“A contractor was dispatched to perform the repairs. The repairs are expected to be completed as soon as possible,” said Ryan Gibbons, director of community services, in an email.
After finding out what happened, Marshall said in an email she is hopeful the headstone will be fixed quickly.
“We need to know when the headstone will be repaired. And, if it’s going to take too long, I’ll have to get it done,” she said.
