Frederick Puzey - Forgotten no more

The headstone with the addition of Frederick Puzey's information. 

In my previous post, I shared some of the history of my grandfather's father. Frederick Puzey Sr. who left his family in Utah to settle in Southern Alberta. He had family join him for a time here in Canada and visits back and forth but on his farm in Champion, he lost his wife, Emily early and was left alone with my 12 year old grandfather Fred. 

Emily, young Fred and Frederick Puzey

And then, when my grandfather was 27, Fred Puzey Sr. passed on. It wasn't a year later that Fred Jr. married my grandmother Hannah Toone and Canada joined in the war.  And with that, a gravestone was never placed on the plot in the Mountain View Cemetery in Lethbridge Alberta.

And then it was forgotten. Over the years, my mother has no recollection of ever knowing where her grandparents were buried or visiting the cemetery.  And I knew that I had a picture of Emily's  headstone but never realized that I had never seen one for Fred.  

When I started to do some investigating, it was still during the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic but living in Calgary, emails and phone calls work just as well. I started with the cemetery office itself.  They double checked that there was not a memorial that just hadn't been photographed, but confirmed that there was no marker indicating Fred's burial next to his wife.  Then I asked about the process of getting a new headstone placed and was told my next steps were to check with a company directly who would do the work and recommended to go with a Lethbridge company that would be familiar with the regulations and processes for the local cemetery.  

When I asked for advice, a friend recommended Lethbridge Monumental and I was on the phone asking questions. They were great to work with and sent someone out to the site to check it out and came back with the recommendation to add the inscription to the existing stone as it appeared to have had room left on it for this purpose.  When Emily passed in 1924, they were the only company in town and would have been the ones responsible for the original headstone!  Seemed even more fitting that they complete the job that they had started then.  They removed the stone to take back to their shop for the engraving and matched the type with the original.  When they re-installed the stone, they cleaned the base. 

Thanks go to all the four families of Frederick Puzey Sr.'s four grandchildren - my mom and aunt and the families of my uncle and aunt who have already joined Great Grandpa Fred and other family gone before us.  Everyone was so willing to help out with the cost and support getting this done. I am so very pleased that this is no longer missing.  

I hope everyone will have a chance to visit the Mountain View Cemetery in Lethbridge - at 1210 Scenic Drive South.  Check out this map if you visit - you will find Fred and Emily's graves in Block C, Lot 27 graves 1E and 2E.