Hunting for Tombstones at Night

It was a summer night, probably in August. Remember what those days were like? Sun setting late, temperature balmy even later. A light sweater was fine for a midnight stroll.

It was on just such a night, that we were passing the Pioneer Cemetery when Andrew suggested that it’d be a fun time to try to identify the oldest grave markers in Steinbach.

Yes.

At night.

To be clear, I was all about that. (Aside from the concern that to passerby, we’d probably look like vandals.)

This grave marker says: “Mr. F. Kroeker. Geb. 6.August.1827 Gest. 8.August.1905” Grandma # 6474… this is Andrew’s great-great-great-grandfather.

Sleepily, we lurched toward the ones that looked particularly old… then stood there, squinting down at them, in the dark.

We hauled out our cell phones. I used a flashlight setting while Andrew took pictures. And that’s what you’re seeing here.

Andrew has accused me of not having posted about Steinbach’s Pioneer Cemetery at all yet. And this is NOT a proper post about that.

I was just looking at some pictures we took earlier in the year, and was amused to find these midnight cemetery pictures in among the lot.

I mean, I’m just taking a wild guess here, but it seems to me that maybe not a lot of people have such photos in their collections.

I could be wrong of course.

This one’s a little more difficult to read: “G.Fast GB.1877.?.23 GT.1944.Feb.2” …?

I tried to doctor them up on the computer so I could read them. I think I did okay.

But they do look downright spooky.

These are tough to read. I think the one on the left says: “____ Reimer Geb.Dec.21.1891 Ges.June.7.1898” and I think the one on the right says: “Abraham W. Reimer Geb.Oct.23.1880 Ges.Nov.1.1899”

The Pioneer Cemetery is a wonderful cemetery. I promise I’ll write more about it. Properly! (ish)