Fairview Cemetery turned over to Leamington

WHEATLEY — A Wheatley cemetery — privately owned for over 120 years — will soon come under control of the Municipality of Leamington.

Fairview Cemetery at 515 Erie Street South in Wheatley has serviced the area since the first burial there in 1899.

Since then, over 1,600 known graves have been used in the cemetery.

The cemetery is owned by the Mc- Donald family and the late Larry Mc- Donald spent the past several years handling the maintenance and care of the property.

With Larry’s passing in 2020, his wife Sandy became the owner of the cemetery.

Sandy McDonald sent a letter last spring to the municipality through her lawyer, requesting to transfer the ownership of the property to the municipality. Doug Scaddan — representing Mrs. McDonald — appeared at the Leamington council meeting last week to discuss the matter as administration offered two recommendations to council.

The first recommendation was to accept the transfer of the ownership and assume all care and maintenance going forward.

The second recommendation was to turn down the request, knowing that the cemetery could then be legally declared abandoned and the municipality would be responsible for care and maintenance through the Funeral, Burial and Cremations Act.

The municipality is already the licensed owner and operator of 11 cemeteries within its boundaries. Three of those cemeteries are considered active.

After some discussion with Mr. Scaddan, council put it to a motion, which was voted on and carried unanimously.

The Municipality of Leamington will now assume ownership of Fairview Cemetery, which sits on the Leamington side of the boundary line between Chatham-Kent and Leamington.

The financial impact, which was not considered for the 2022 budget, is estimated at about $25,000 annually.

Leamington will also take over any funds already on the cemetery books for perpetual care.

The Bereavement Authority of Ontario will oversee the transfer, which will be done through the Land Registry Office.