We’re back for one more examination of cemeteries in Timmins this week, for our ongoing local history feature.
Timmins Museum director-curator Karen Bachmann says Tisdale Cemetery on Hiwy. 101 was established in 1913 for South Porcupine.
It and the Timmins Memorial Cemetery have sections from the Legion, in memory of local men who served in both World Wars.
“There is also, at the Timmins Cemetery, a memorial to the 1928 Hollinger Disaster,” she notes. “There is a mass grave that was put there, with a lot of the Eastern European men who were part of that community. So there’s a large headstone there as well that you can visit.”
Thirty-nine men died in the underground gold mine fire.
That cemetery is also the final resting place of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player Bill Barilko. He died in a plane crash while on a fishing trip, shortly after scoring the goal that won the Stanley Cup in 1951. His remains weren’t found until 1962.
Museum curator Karen Bachmann has an interesting story about Barilko’s burial place.
“It’s very interesting because there’s always something left on his grave, either a puck or a stick or a rose or a number of things. No one is quite sure who that is (who leaves the items), but he still remains in someone’s heart.”
Ongoing thanks to Karen Bachmann for her help with our weekly history feature.
