After noticing an elaborate gravesite in a state of disrepair at North Side Cemetery in Holyrood, Yvonne Besso, who visits the graves of family members there every month, thought it would be nice to have it upgraded.
She has no connection to the man buried there, Capt. Thomas Dwyer, who was a doctor in the First World War. But she does have a strong family connection to the military.
Linda Fraser is the president of the Holyrood Heritage Society. She was interested in restoring the gravesite as well, but given it was almost winter, plans were put “on the back burner,” she said.
But after The Telegram published an article about Dwyer and his gravesite, Fraser said the phone started ringing.
“I had two calls immediately, volunteering to do whatever was necessary to do, to restore that grave,” she said.
Those calls were from Michael Pretty of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and Patrick Dunn of the Canadian Veterans Freedom Riders.
On Saturday, in celebration of the now restored grave, a parade walked from Happy Days Day Care in Holyrood toward Kennedy’s Lane where the cemetery is.
A ceremony was held, and a wreath was placed on the gravestone by Besso.
It meant a great deal to Fraser, whose father was in the Second World War, to have this completed in honour of someone who served in the military.
“My mother came over from Paris, France, as a war bride and my dad was in the Air Force,” she said. “I lost my dad when I was 11 years old … my mom used to say to me, ‘You used to kick, kick, kick, when we would march to the war memorial in Curling … I swear you were marching with your father.’”
After all the volunteer work put into the site, as well as the regular maintenance, Fraser said the cemetery is unreal.
“You should see it, it’s like heaven,” she said.
@AndrewLWaterman
