Our History
The Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board began serving the Jewish community of Metro Vancouver more than a century ago. On December 30th, 1926, the Province of British Columbia, under the leadership of Premier John Oliver, granted land to the Jewish Community by “Order in Council”.
The first burial to take place in the cemetery was for 79-year old Dinah Lotzkar, who died on November 8, 1929, and was buried the next day.
The original parcel of land comprised only a small part of what is today a sprawling, 15-acre cemetery. In 1929, this was just a small parcel of land with a fence. Funerals took place in Vancouver. In [YEAR] the first funeral chapel was constructed at [ADDRESS], and in [YEAR] a new chapel and home for the Chevra Kadisha was opened on Alma Street and Broadway. Each funeral service was followed by the long drive to New Westminster on narrow side roads. In bad weather, this drive could take an hour or more.
Over the years, as the community grew, there was a need for more cemetery land. Fortunately, there was available parcels of land adjacent to the cemetery that the Schara Tzedeck purchased, and over the years, as more adjacent land became available, those sites were purchased as well.
In 1990, a plan to consolidate the funeral chapel, Chevra Kadisha space, and the cemetery was created. This involved realigning Marine Drive to the south and developing the third Schara Tzedeck Chapel that is still in use today.
Today, there are about 5,000 people buried in New Westminster cemetery.
In 2008, with no further potential land acquisitions adjacent to the New Westminster cemetery, property connected to the Surrey Central Cemetery was purchased. This new cemetery, with space for about 2,000 burials, offers members of our community a second, lower cost option. All funeral services at the Surrey location took place graveside until 2019 when a beautiful funeral chapel was built on-site to provide a more comforting experience for all in attendance at a service.
Mountain View Cemetery
Until 1892, the only cemetery in British Columbia was located in Victoria. Jews who lived in Vancouver were transported to Victoria for burial.
In [1890], the City of Vancouver, under the leadership of Mayor David Oppenheimer, created a small section of the Mountain View Cemetery for use by the Jewish Community. Mayor Oppenheimer was, himself, Jewish, and felt that if Vancouver was ever to have a strong Jewish community, it would need cemetery land. (Interestingly enough, Mayor Oppenheimer eventually left Vancouver for New York where he was buried.) This section was demarked and consecrated for Jewish burials.
The first burial to take place was Otto E. Bond, who died on December 19, 1892.
All burials took place here until the New Westminster Cemetery was created, giving people two options of where they could purchase burial space. Once the New Westminster cemetery opened, many in the Jewish community felt it would be better to purchase space there as this cemetery was actually owned and operated by the Jewish Community (through the Congregation Schara Tzedeck) while Mountain View was owned and operated by the City. Over the decades, as the cemetery in New Westminster grew, fewer burials took place in Mountain View. Eventually Mountain View became the cemetery used for the burial of those who were indigent, had no family, or where the family was unable to afford to purchase space in New Westminster. Some families continued using this space as their ancestors had purchased large banks of plots.
In 2011, vandalism resulted in a number of headstones being toppled over. A committee was formed to repair the damaged headstones, and bring this near-abandoned cemetery back to its original splendour and glory. More than $600,000 was raised and spent completely restoring the site, including creating beautiful new walkways, new entry gates, and a plaza area. All the headstones were fully restored with grants from the Federal Government. The City of Vancouver also heavily supported this project. Today, this cemetery is a beautiful and tranquil setting, rich in the history of the Jewish community in Vancouver.
