Memorial Monument Installed in Lamont

Memorial Monument Installed in Lamont

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

November 4 was an emotional day for Tom Hrehorets and fellow members of the memorial committee as Remco Memorials installed the 7,200 lb granite and marble monument with the names and photos of the 17 students who died in the tragic bus-train accident on Nov. 29, 1960.

Names and photos of accident victims engraved in the monument.

(Tom Hrehorets/Submitted Photo)

The monument, is located along 47 Avenue in Lamont, just north of the railway tracks. The monument also lists the names of the 30 accident survivors of the accident as well as the names of memorial committee members: Chairman Tom Hrehorets, Secretary/Treasurer Trudy Harrold, John and Jeannette Winnick, Ellen Sledz, (Lauder), and Terry and Diane Cossey.

“When I saw the pictures there were no words to even begin to say how I felt,” said Hrehorets, who initiated the project a year ago. He said the experience was “overwhelming” and he feels relieved and gratified that after 61 years the victims and survivors of the tragedy will forever be remembered and honoured in this manner.

Names of survivors and committee members engraved in the monument.

(Tom Hrehorets/Submitted Photo)

Hrehorets said the monument will be blessed and a special dedication service will be held next spring. “We are thinking towards the end of May. We want to do some landscaping and plant some shrubs and trees.”

Another monument has been ordered through Summit Memorials. Tom said committee members have met with several organizations in Chipman and that the monument will be located in the Village of Chipman’s Memorial Park. He expects that monument to be completed by the summer of 2022.