Monday 2 July 2012

deceased

Both Oliver Mowat and Bertha Gladys are deceased and resting at the Waterdown Union Cemetery. This is the first time I have ever seen the words deceased used on a gravestone and that was what grabbed my attention. 
And the absence of birthdates, which seems to be more common that expected. 
Oliver and Gladys were married on April 19, 1922 and had one child, Joyce Elizabeth. Her birthdate is 'confidential' according to the Horning Genealogy, but Oliver was born on January 13th, 1891 in Waterdown and died on February 2, 1962 at age 71 in Hamilton. Gladys was born on September 3rd, 1880 in Burlington and died in Hamilton on June 1, 1969 at age 88.

for a Taphophile Tragics at Waterdown Union Cemetery

10 comments:

Paul in Powell River said...

Meaning Joyce is probably still with us and is like any other woman about her year of birth!

Gemma Wiseman said...

Almost sounds like a duty of practice rather than a heartfelt recognition! But then, some bottle their feelings and find the formal wording a comfortable recourse.

Julie said...

Ah, Paul could be right. HOwever, once people get up toward the end of their 80s a certain pride about longevity kicks in. I am for thinking that her need for confidentiality is to do with the closeness of her date of birth to the marriage date of her parents.

The woman was 11 years older than the man. For that era, that was unusual, unless I have lived under a rock.

The other think of interest here, is that each of them, both Oliver and Bertha, have christian names that may have also been family names. We had that for a while in my extended family, too. However, it has ceased in the current generations.

Julie said...

oops ... me again.

Meant to comment on 'deceased'. I have not seen this either. Nor such a lack of information. We often have 'died xx/xx/xxxx aged xx', which means we have to do the sums ourselves.

I do not know if there is a religious denomination involved here, but my guess is definitely NOT Catholic. More likely to be one of the less demonstrative protestant faiths.

VioletSky said...

I was struck by his name - and wonder if he was named after the Oliver Mowat?
...I just checked and he was alive and still Premier at the time of this Oliver's birth.

Deb said...

Yes unusual wording, maybe a local custom if there are others similar nearby? Handsome stone.

hamilton said...

having now added up the dates, I see that Gladys was at quite an advanced age when she and Oliver married, so that may be a reason for Joyce's reticence.

I also immediately thought of the other Oliver Mowat when I saw this. There were Olivers in the family, but maybe they thought this was a nice combination to honour family and political ties?

SeaThreePeeO said...

Very interesting. I have yet to come across deceased on a gravestone. Looks like Gladys got herself a toy boy.

Herding Cats

Francisca said...

Haha, Nicola... toy boy... pretty rare in those days!

CaT said...

hmmm... i think i might have seen it, deceased. but now im not sure anymore... :)
a confidential birthday?! haha! thats something i really wouldnt care about... (at least, not until now)