This stone angel stands at the head of a grave at the Coldstream Municipal Cemetery at 7600 Howe Drive.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Cher Turanski

Coldstream resident Cher Turanski was in tears for several days after the grave marker on her mother’s plot in Coldstream Municipal Cemetery went missing over the August long weekend.

A whimsical stone angel mounted on a concrete square has sat at the grave for three years without incident and is a treasured item for Turanski’s family.

“My mom had it in her garden for over 40 years and it was her favourite piece and something we remember seeing as kids,” Turanski said. “When my one sister found out it was missing, she physically vomited and the other sister was crying.”

On Aug. 2, a family member visiting the grave discovered the angel was missing and alerted Turanski who immediately went to confirm it was gone, spending time sweeping the whole cemetery for it.

At first, she assumed the family treasure had been stolen, and on Monday, Aug. 4, she posted a reward of $250 on social media for any information leading to the angel’s recovery.

That same day she emailed the District of Coldstream, which is responsible for the maintenance of the cemetery, asking for information but didn’t get a response back right away as it was BC Day.

On Tuesday she left a voicemail with the Coldstream superintendent of public works and parks who phoned bank the next day to inform her the angel had been removed by the municipality and put into a storage facility.

“Apparently the angel isn’t considered a headstone,” Turanski said. “A big rock with a plaque is considered a headstone and the angel can sit next to the rock. It’s awful they’d put the family through this without notifying us it was an issue and giving us the opportunity to discuss what is their consideration of a headstone and fix it without going through this grief.”

The stone angel has since been put back with apologies from the superintendent and has been allowed to remain, for the time being. An obsidian stone placed at the base of the angel is still missing and necklace that was around its neck is broken.

Turanski and her sisters will be looking at putting a rock with a plaque on the grave site in the near future.

Each cemetery has its own set of bylaws in respect to things like the operation and management of the place of interment if it allows multiple internments in one lot, and even the size, class, kind and composition of memorials permitted on site, according to Consumer Protection BC.

Turanski was unable to find any guidelines around headstones on the District of Coldstream’s website. 

“Nobody ever told us we couldn’t have a stone angel on a slab, the paperwork we got initially said nothing about any parameters of headstones, we couldn’t figure out what line we crossed,” she said.

“If you’re going to change the rules and mark an item as non-compliant, send the family a notice. Don’t just mark something as not compliant with the invisible rules and remove it without us knowing.”

iNFOnews.ca reached out for comment to the operations superintendent twice by phone this week, and Coldstream mayor Ruth Hoyte by email but did not get a response in time for publication.

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