92 years after death, N.B. woman's burial date set
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 9:41 PM AT
CBC News
The remains of Gladys Winifred Fowler will be buried on Nov. 15. (CBC)The remains of an 18-year-old Canadian woman who died in England more than 90 years ago will finally be buried near her childhood home in Hammondvale, N.B. on Nov. 15.
The British government has granted permission to transport the body of Gladys Winifred Fowler, who died in London in 1917 of heart problems.
She was the daughter of then-New Brunswick MP George Fowler, at the time a lieutenant-colonel serving with the 13th Battalion Canadian Infantry in the First World War.
Her body was only identified this spring inside a packing crate stored in a catacomb at the Kensal Green Cemetery. The contents of the crate had been a mystery for almost a century.
Barry Smith of the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery said he traced Fowler's story after cemetery officials found a plaque with her name engraved.
Smith said the coffin was properly sealed and crated for transport back to Canada at the end of the war, but that never happened.
"Even though nearly 100 years has passed, we would like to see her at home with her family," he said.
In July, Air Canada agreed to fly Fowler's remains from London to Halifax for free.
Wallace Funeral Home, the oldest funeral home in Kings County, will take care of other arrangements, including the burial.
Steve Baldwin, the owner of the funeral home, said Fowler's return would have cost well over $10,000.
"I think that we would all agree the most important thing is to get Winifred home," he said. "So we'll do whatever we need to do."
