Delta Cenotaph
Municipality/Province: Delta, BC
Memorial number: 59003-001
Type: Obelisk
Address: 47 Avenue and Delta Street
Location: Memorial Park
GPS coordinates: Lat: 49.0883052 Long: -123.0850105
Submitted by: Julie Clements. Matt Rogers. Fred G. Herbert. Victoria Edwards.
Photo credit: Gary Bramhill
Memorial Park was originally the property of William Henry Ladner. In 1919, Harry Nelson Rich, a prominent village businessman who lost his only son Sidney in the First World War, obtained the acreage to develop it as a memorial administered by the Delta Memorial Park Association. The cenotaph was unveiled at a large community gathering on May 22, 1921. Twenty-seven names of those from Delta who died in the First World War were etched in the granite. Later, names of those who died in the Second World War were added and the Korean War, Afghanistan and NATO were recognized.
The volunteer association operated the park and maintained the cenotaph until 1956, when the property and assets were turned over to the Corporation of Delta. The cenotaph was refurbished and landscaped in 1987 by the Legion and other volunteers.
Padre Jim Short made a promise while serving in Afghanistan as chaplain, never to forget Stephan John Stock. Short met Stock while training for deployment in Wainwright, Alberta, where they learned they were both from Delta. Stock attended South Delta Secondary and was a combat engineer serving as part of the Canadian contribution to NATO’s International Security Assistance Force. He and two others died on August 20, 2008, on their way back to Kandahar base after their vehicle hit an improvised explosive device. Short provided the prayer service for Stock and arranged for his body to be returned to Canada.
Short approached Delta council who approved and paid for adding names to the cenotaph for those who are listed in the Books of Remembrance in Ottawa and had lived in Delta. Two other names of former Delta residents, Captain D. Miles Selby and Trooper Percy Leonard Devereaux, were added to the cenotaph. A private ceremony took place on November 10, 2022, at the cenotaph to recognize the servicemen and their families.
Inscription found on memorial
[front/devant]
ROSS BAXTER
FREDERICK BEMI
JOHN CHRISTIAN
ERIC COLE
BERT FREDERICK
MAXWELL LOVE
1939-1945
JOHN E.FALK
CYRIL MOORE
STANLEY SMITH
SIDNEY N.RICH
ROBERT KETTLES
FRED W.WHITWORTH
LESTER W.HANDFORD
"THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE"
1914-1919
(plaque)
IN MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO SERVED AND DIED FROM
DELTA
IN KOREA
[right side/côté droit]
JOHN MEAD
HUME HILTON
BASIL FRENCH
S.MONTGOMERY
JOHN P.CAMERON
MALCOLM LEONARD
WILLIAM MCLENNAN
"THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE"
1914-1919
(plaque)
IN MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO SERVED AND DIED FROM
DELTA
IN NATO MISSIONS
[back/derrière]
FRED A.COOK
GUY A.TAYLOR
SIDNEY WELSH
WILLIAM LEWIS
NEIL MCNIVEN
ROBERT SCOTT
"THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE"
1914-1919
(plaque)
IN MEMORY OF
THOSE WHO SERVED AND DIED FROM
DELTA
IN AFGHANISTAN CONFLICTS
[left side/côté gauche]
LESLIE MCCREA
DONALD MONTGOMERY
HOMER E.ROBISON
DAVID SKINNER
WALTER WILLIAMS
1939-1945
CECIL WEARE
ARTHUR MILLS
J.C.SMALLWOOD
DOUGLAS A.WRIGHT
EDWIN E.HUTCHERSON
"THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE"
1914-1919
(plaque)
KOREA
1950-1953
Street view
Note
This information is provided by contributors and Veterans Affairs Canada makes it available as a service to the public. Veterans Affairs Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the information.
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