Vimy Ridge and Mountain View Cemetery

Maybe I’m the only one who likes random trivia.

Did you know that the sister of the designer of Canada’s Vimy monument (the one in France) is buried in Mountain View Cemetery and the designer’s nephew served as Lethbridge mayor?

The Vimy Monument was sculpted by Walter S. Allward, described as one of the most important monumental sculptors in the early 20th century. The Vimy project, to commemorate Canadians killed in the First World War, occupied his time between 1921 and 1936. It includes 20 sculptured symbolic figures and the names of over 11,000 Canadians who were killed in France and buried in unknown sites. The monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII in July 1936 before a crowd of 100,000 people. The monument was later designated a National Historic Site.

Allward was brother of Mrs. Elizabeth Jardine of Lethbridge. Elizabeth Jardine is buried in Mountain View Cemetery without a headstone – nothing was sculpted for her.

Elizabeth was married to James Jardine, a long-time Lethbridge businessman (tailor).

Their son, John Jardine, served as Lethbridge alderman from 1937 to 1947 and mayor from 1947 to 1949. He was also a long-time businessman in Lethbridge, establishing a welding firm in Lethbridge after serving in the First World War. In 1931, he purchased the old Bay building at the corner of 5 Street and 1 Avenue South and converted it into a dance hall (Trianon Ball Room), service station and tire supply business.

Jardine later moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, and operated a business there, passing away in Hawaii in 1978 at the age of 78.