USCC (Sion) Cemetery – Grand Forks, British Columbia

The following is a transcription of the USCC (Sion) Cemetery located 5 kilometres west of Grand Forks, British Columbia. Land location: Lot 30, District Lot 458, Similkameen Division, Yale District, Plan 8518 & Lot 47, District Lot 453, Similkameen Division, Yale District, Plan 8151. Latitude: 49°00.969. Longitude: 118°29.831. Transcribed by Lawrna S. Myers, Margaret Myers, and John Reibin in April 2003.  Updated on January 4, 2008.

View of the cemetery from the west facing east. To the north is Highway No. 3. To the south, the Kettle River.

Historical Background

Sion Cemetery was established in 1909 by the Christian Community of Universal Brotherhood (“CCUB”) to serve the Sion settlement area. After the demise of the CCUB in 1937-1939, the cemetery continued to be used by its successor organization, the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ (“USCC”). Hence, it also came to be known as the USCC Cemetery. It is in active use. It is privately owned and maintained.

Layout

The cemetery is approximately eight acres in size and is unenclosed. It is partially wooded. The cemetery contains approximately 2,000 interments in a single section comprised of 110 rows facing east-west. Over 600 of the graves have no marker and the mounds have been leveled. We have used the burial register, burial plot map, death registrations and oral tradition to identify 137 of these. The remaining 463 or so unmarked graves are unidentified. With respect to graves with markers, the markers are typically plain slate, marble or concrete upright headstones or flat markers set flush to the ground. Click below for an online cemetery map. Note the rows are numbered from east to west, commencing with Row No. 1 (eastern-most row) and ending with Row No. 109 (western-most row).

Driving Directions

To access the cemetery, travel west from Grand Forks on Highway No. 3 for approximately 5 km (3.1 miles). Turn left at the bottom of the hill onto Mill Road and then right on Cemetery Frontage Road and continue to the cemetery entrance. Alternatively, proceed to the top of the hill and then turn left on Cemetery Frontage Road and continue to the cemetery entrance. The cemetery is on private property and permission to access should be obtained by the owners.

Surname Index

Another view of the cemetery from the west facing east.

Notes

Various sources of data have been used in compiling this information, including: marker transcriptions, burial plot map, burial register and death registrations. This is a work in progress. If readers have any comments, corrections or additions with respect to the USCC (Sion) Cemetery, please contact: Lawrna S. Myers.