True and Fascinating Canadian History
The 140TH Anniversary Of Canada's National Police Force
1873 - 2013
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This website is the result of the active collaboration of many RCMP Vets, Members as well as others who have expertise in a variety of areas. I sincerely thank all Vets, Members of the Force, families and friends from around the world who have contributed information or stories about deceased members.
I would like to acknowledge especially:
Vet. Jack O’Reilly of ‘O’ Div. has devoted his life since retirement to researching, locating and caring for Vets graves.
Jack (left center) has been thoroughly committed to the Graves Program and he deserves recognition. From the inception of this website, Jack has collaborated closely with me by providing material and by proofreading data. I rely on Jack and his wife Diane for help, encouragement and great ideas.
Gerry Vullings, friend and retired teacher, for his computer wizardry, technical problem-solving, advice and endless patience. Gerry helped me with the design of the database and with solving frequent glitches which arise frequently with a large National Graves database. Gerry could easily win the title 'Guardian Angel of Databases'.
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Vet. Wayne Barry of 'O' Div. (immediate right) also deserves a heartfelt vote of thanks for his help with our Program. Wayne and Jack O'Reilly work well together and they continue day after day 'to sleuth' through obituaries, newspapers and web searches.
Vet. CSM Mel Gilbey of Ottawa for sharing his history files; the creation of his files involved innumerable hours of labour and great dedication.
Vets Kenn Barker and Malcolm Wake of Regina, SK for researching and organizing all the gravesites at the RCMP Cemetery 'Depot'.
'E' Div. Vet, author and historian Don Klancher for his expect advice about materials and literature which provide readers with rich insights into the early days and the lives of the North West Mounted Police. I thank Don and I value his authoritative, researched suggestions about the history of the Force.
RCMP Historian Glenn Wright for his friendship and for responding to the tough questions about the early history of the Force.
Here's Glenn (right) speaking with Mr. Don Cherry (centre) of CBC's Coaches Corner. Mr. Cherry discovered that his paternal grandfather (Sub-Constable John T. Cherry) was one of the early members to serve in the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) on the March West in 1884.
Mr. Reg Keatley, Friend of the Force in Calgary, AB has provided several hundreds of photographs of graves from 'K' Div. and from other regions of Canada.
Mr. Keatley (left) has also unearthed graves which were thought to have been lost. In one case, he scratched around the base of a tree and uncovered a grave of a long deceased member. He has also found valuable data in libraries which required his persistence. Thank you Reg!
Vet. AJH 'Joe' Collinson in Edmonton, AB is a very loyal friend and a valuable researcher for our Graves Location and Maintenance Website.
Joe has also provided hundreds of photos from 'K' Div. especially from the Edmonton area and northern Alberta. Joe Collinson has also found hundreds of memorials to RCMP members who were killed overseas including war in South Africa, France, Belguim and Italy. He has also listed hundreds of RNWMP and RCMP members who were killed in action. Thank you Joe for your great support! Here's Joe on his HD-hog!
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Vet. John Henderson has been a friend going back to 'Depot' days in 1975. John has kindly provided our Program with a throughly researched list of RCMP members who left the Force to join the Royal Air Force or the Royal Canadian Air Force before or during WW II. Many of these members gave their lives for Canada in the line of duty. Due to John Henderson's research skills and long interest in the history of the Force many of these former members have now been identified. John, your devotion and support to our Graves Program is invaluable and sincerely appreciated. Thank you!
Vet. Robert Mead representing 'B' Div., Vet Sheldon Boles of 'E' Division and serving RCMP Superintendent Brian Brennan of 'H' Division also deserve sincere thanks for providing support to the Graves Location and Maintenance Information Website. These friends have successfully collected hundreds of deceased RCMP names and photos from their research fields; Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia and Nova Scotia. To each of them, I again say thank you.
Vets Jim Forsyth and Frank Richter for helping to spread the word and solicit assistance.
My nephews Gregory and Sean Healy of New Brunswick for devoting countless hours to inputting data, designing a dynamic website whilst being subjected to Uncle Joe’s 'soothing' Sinatra music.
IN MEMORIUM
Vet. Jack White (photo below & right) of Kamloops, BC provided endless help to me by phone and by e-mail.
Jack was a marvelous friend, an author, a great researcher and an RCMP Historian. He regularly sent me a little gem or nugget of data which helped to fill gaps in the database.
I first met Jack in Burnaby, BC. Our friendship went back to about 1965.
A couple years later we met again under unique circumstances. After Burnaby & Pattullo Bridge, I had been posted to Ridge Meadows Detachment (Haney, BC) for three years beginning in 1967.
One day, I received a call that a car had been found in a remote Pitt Meadows field by hunters. The car had been stripped of its functional items and deliberately set afire in an attempt to destroy evidence and its identification.
I could find the luxury car's manufacturer's name but the car's VIN was missing. Or, at least I thought it was destroyed. Corporal Jack White responded to me from Sub Division.
Jack was the original inventor of secrets. According to my notebook, Corporal White asked me to turn my back while he scoured the car meticulously. He would not disclose where he found the VIN, but his help with the car's identification helped me determine it had been stolen from America.
I noted that Jack was a keen, astute, observant police officer and investigator.
One Sunday afternoon years ago, I called Jack at his home in BC. I had hoped that he would allow me to interview him by phone. At first, our conversation was about his wife and family and his research projects. He was easy to talk with, gracious about his successful police career and very happy to be living back in western Canada.
At one point in the conversation, I asked Jack if I could ask him a few direct questions about his career -- I thought his responses would enable me to complete the notes which I already had gained. Jack tersely turned me down, he said 'Joe, there's no story there.'
I required no explanation for what he inferred. In certain matters, Jack was a very private person. It was the last time we spoke, but I recall him fondly.
Hundreds of names found in the National Graves Database were given to me with Jack's very generous verbal and written permission.
Jack joined the Force in 1950. He served in 'E' and 'B' Divisions and he retired in 1985 at the rank of Chief Superintendent. Jack, along with retired William J. Hulgaard were authors of Honoured in Places. 2002., Heritage House Publishing Co., Surrey, BC
Jack passed away February 22, 2011. R.I.P.
Reporting from the Fort,
J. J. (Buffalo Joe) Healy
