Wroxeter Cemetery - Wroxeter, ON

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The village of Wroxeter, Ontario has a beautiful, small cemetery that I have been waiting to visit. One of my favourite types of cemeteries to visit are those that have their home in the countryside, surrounded by fields and open sky. I think they are special because often you are the only one within 100 meters or sometimes even a kilometer, making for a visit that is quiet and peaceful - almost unnaturally so. This was a similar experience at Wroxeter Cemetery, with only the soft hum of the occasional tires on pavement on the road beside. The first thing I noticed was that the center of the cemetery had a lovely circular area for the war memorial, which also included a few benches to sit in the shade. 

One of my personal interests when visiting cemeteries is to look for veterans and later write about their stories. When walking through the cemetery you will often see graves of those who have passed away too young. This often includes veterans. In the Wroxeter Cemetery I was able to find four headstones of individuals who served Canada in the military. They are usually easy to spot as they have a uniform shape and colour. 
The first headstone I found was of Harold B. 'Ben' Walker. Ben was born in Paris, Ontario and worked as a barber before the war and even spent time working as an official barber when serving in the war. Ben was a Private in Canada's RCR's 1st Battalion. He received numerous awards and recognition for his service and came back home to Ontario, where he lived to be 78, passing away on August 18, 1996. A interesting fact about Ben is that he played on the All Ontario Junior Lacrosse Championships team before joining the military. 

A second headstone I discovered belongs to Anthony Meahan. Anthony served in the 58th Battalion, C.E.F., based out of Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario. C.E.F, as I have recently come to learn, stands for Canadian Expeditionary Force. This infantry battalion fought in France and Flanders (Belgium) until the end of the war and were honoured with well over a dozen awards. Anthony was able to return back to Canada after the battalion disbanded in Fall of 1920. He passed away in 1957 at the age of 62 and is buried alongside his wife and her family.  

The final two headstones belong to Private Thomas Henry Westlake and Private Frederick Ashton Westlake. I searched quite a while for records to show if they were brothers. I was only able to find that Frederick was one of five brothers who served in the 18th Battalion, so I would wager a good guess that Thomas was his brother. Thomas Henry Westlake served as a Private in the Canadian Infantry (Western Ontario Regiment) in the 18th Battalion. Thomas fell ill while overseas and was sent home. He passed away at the 26 in 1921. Frederick Ashton Westlake also served as a Private in the 18th Battalion. Frederick returned home after the war and appears to have lived in or around Listowel, Ontario, as he worked at the Spinrite Yarn and Dyers Factory. He passed away in 1961 at the age of 74.

There are a number more interesting headstones and residents to discuss at Wroxeter, Cemetery. There is sure to be another blog post exploring further in the future. Overall it is a beautiful cemetery, overlooking a pond across the road and surrounded by cornfields and trees. Definitely worth a stop if you are passing through the area!

Thanks for reading...Happy Cemetery Travels.
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Research credits to:

findagrave.com

https://www.on.legion.ca/

https://pubdocs.huroncounty.ca/