WEST RESERVE
I don’t think you want to know how I got here. Maybe I shouldn’t tell you. I don’t even remember how I found out about it! All I know is, Andrew and I planned a little getaway to Morden over spring break and the next thing he knew, I had convinced him to stop the car on a gravel road and I was marching into yet another field.
Honestly I was hoping someone would approach me so that I could ask them a few questions about this site. I was very confident it was here.
I headed directly for some trees.
Here is the outside of the trees.
And here is the inside. It looks like a bare lawn. Perhaps it is. But somewhere in this vicinity, there are graves. And this site marks them.
Andrew still doubted me until I noticed this plaque standing alone.
It says:
SCHOENDORF CEMETERY 1886-1938 IN MEMORY OF OUR PIONEERS
Heinrich Wiebe 1884-1892
Peter Wiebe 1836-1915
Anna Wiebe 1840-1918
Susana Martens 1836-1917
Maria Schapansky 1867-1928
Margaret Heide 1921-1925
Wilhelm Wiebe 1871-1932
Jakob Wiebe 1910-1932
Jakob Schapansky 1867-1935
Peter Wiebe 1864-1936
John Klassen – unknown
Wiebe Children – unknown
Schapansky Children – unknown
Other Children – unknown
Diagram shows the location of 26 graves. This cemetery was destroyed in the mid 1950s. Jack Wiebe grandson of Wilhelm Wiebe located there graves in 1988 and had the cemetery surveyed. Corner posts and plaque were erected in 1990 by the descendants of this cemetery.
I had learned of this cemetery on the Manitoba Historical Society website, but no other information is given except what you see on the plaque here.
I appreciate this plaque because it illustrates the locations of the graves. Also, even though this cemetery is in the middle of a field, someone is caring for it. That always touches my heart. (Though I do love stumbling across wild cemeteries as well — those somehow grab my imagination quite a bit more.)
Thanks for joining me on yet another cemetery adventure!
I think Andrew was glad to know that at least we were walking into a field for no reason. There was a very obvious reason. I was just disappointed that no one saw us and approached us to give us a bit more detail about this place.
