Lilac Cemetery Tour in Southeast Manitoba

Last Sunday, Andrew told me he was in the mood for a small adventure. I knew immediately what we should do — take a lilac cemetery tour!

For a long while I’ve been noticing a lot of lilac bushes at various cemeteries we visit, but because lilacs only bloom for a short time, we typically have not seem them in bloom at these locations. There were three that I had on my mind, and that is where we went.

First, we returned to Neuanlage. This site is significant to me, because it was settled by great-great-grandfather Johann B. Koop, and it is where my great-great-great-grandfather Peter Baerg was laid to rest. I have thought of it as the Koop Village. And there are a LOT of lilacs here.

I won’t ever get sick of the site of a stone foundation remaining from one of the homes that had once been here. Whose home exactly, I don’t know. But it is something remaining from something approaching the time of my ancestors, anyway.

And there are lilacs! And they are blooming!

Unfortunately these pictures do not do it justice.

Do lilac bushes always bloom from the top? Why am I only noticing that this year?

Of course, we paid our respects at the cemetery that is here at this lovely spot.

Even though the plots are clearly marked on this thoughtful cairn, I’m not sure if I’ve ever really paid attention to exactly which plot belongs to my great-great-great-grandfather.

Andrew pointed out to me that he was the only adult laid to rest here. All the others were children.

Here is great-great-great-grandfather’s place of rest, in the back right side corner of the cemetery:

Next, we went to Blumenhoff, which certainly was blooming!

I just cannot get enough of these lilacs!

It was very very windy but I’m so happy we could visit and enjoy the flowers. I think that every time we revisit a cemetery we learn something new. We have previously realized that the Maria Unger who is buried here would have been Andrew’s great-aunt, who died as a teenager during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. This time, Andrew looked up the other Unger here, and learned that the infant Cornelius Unger who was buried here in 1913, was his grandpa’s first cousin. We located his grave and paid respects.

Then, there was a local, non-Mennonite cemetery I wanted to revisit — the Kihn Cemetery. Unlike the others, we had only ever been here once because the roads out here are sketchy. But, since it’s a very dry spring, I figured it would be the perfect time to risk getting our car stuck, in order to see the Kihn lilacs. And, it was the right decision.

There is a huge old bunch of lilacs at the “front” (?) of the cemetery, and they were beautifully in bloom. And though it was a windy day, the trees surrounding the spot sheltered us.

We met many bees here, they were having a great time. I was not worried about being stung, because they were distracted by all the pollen.

I just love lilacs in a cemetery!

I have taken a picture of this before, this headstone buried in the midst of old, old lilacs. I think it’s wonderful.

Such a gorgeous flower!

I don’t think these pictures capture it very well, but to get here, it’s a very strange journey. You must leave the highway and venture east several miles on a road that curves twice. That is not normal for a prairie road. And then it will bring you to a field that seems to not be cultivated (growing anything here seems very difficult due to all the gravel) and there is a path through the field. It follows the gravel ridge, and you can drive on it. You follow this for about a third of a mile and will bring you to the cemetery on the ridge.

When we returned to the road, I saw these flowers and slammed on the brakes to get a picture and pick a tiny cluster. These were my favourite, because they had been my dad’s favourite: