Drowning in Debt? We Can Help! INCORPORATED TRUSTEE IN BANKRUPTCY
in the home stretch
bridgewater’s jenna martin could clinch a spot in london at the canadian track-and-field championships this week page 34
902 482 2000 • 4debtrelief.com
halifax
Wednesday, June 27, 2012 News worth sharing.
metronews.ca | twitter.com/metrohalifax | facebook.com/metrohalifax
After 80 years, a proper grave for RCMP officer Commemoration. Retired staff sergeant arranges for official grave-marker placement, rededication ceremony for late Mountie
Retired RCMP officer Thomas Lowe stands next to the grave site of former Mountie John F. Kelly at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Halifax on Tuesday. Lowe wants to put a regimental plaque on Kelly’s grave and is trying to get in touch with Kelly’s relatives for a dedication ceremony. ryan taplin/metro
Shortly after Thomas Lowe discovered an 80-year-old RCMP grave site two years ago, he knew something had to be done. Lowe, a retired staff sergeant and member of the RCMP Veterans’ Association of Nova Scotia, maintains graves of deceased officers at cemeteries throughout HRM. His records of RCMP sites, it turned out, were missing the one belonging to John F. Kelly, an officer who died while in service in 1933, at Mount Olivet Cemetery. The grave is marked with a small rectangular orange stone, but unlike every other RCMP grave Lowe has seen, it’s missing the traditional markings of
Our party menus are up to
ALL DAY DELIVERY to Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, Clayton Park, Fairview and Spryfield
a deceased officer. So Lowe is now looking to give Kelly the respect he deserves, and plans to re-engrave and re-letter his gravestone and to place a concrete slab and bronze RCMP marker at the site. “I just think that’s the least we can do for those who served in the force and who passed on,” Lowe said. “They served Canada, just like the military. I think they’re entitled to make sure that somebody looks after their graves.” After doing some research, Lowe was able to uncover a bit of the late Mountie’s history — he started his service with the RCMP force in April of 1932 and died nine months later in January of 1933 due to health issues — as well as the names of six people believed to be members of his family, the latest of whom was born in 1898. The grave will be rededicated with its new markings in a ceremony with the RCMP chaplain in the fall to commemorate his service, which, Lowe said,
“Freshest Ingredients, only Grade A Meats”
35% Off
Family tree
Through his research, Lowe has uncovered the following names of those believed to be Kelly’s relatives: • Wife: Elizabeth Jean Rey-
nolds
• Father: Peter Kelly, born in
Ireland Sept. 28, 1848
• Mother: Elizabeth Kelly,
born in Windsor, Ont., Nov. 18, 1865 • Brother: Walter Kelly, born in Halifax April 19, 1884 • Brother: Leo Kelly, born in Halifax March 30, 1897 • Brother: Albert Kelly, born in Halifax July 28, 1898
feels “great.” “My whole intent is to make sure these graves are looked after to the best possible degree,” he said, adding, “If we had known about it sooner, it would have been done a long time ago.” Spencer Buell/for metro
11th
6 YEARS IN A ROW! 1st runner up
4 4 4 - 7 7 7 6 • 5 9 7 2 S p r i n g G a r d e n R o a d , H a l i f a x • w w w. j e a n s r e s t a u r a n t . c a