HOBBY, PEACE-MAKING.
This is what happens on our Mount Hope Cemetery walking tour… people notice grave markers and stones with interesting and personal details that spark discussion, questions and speculation!!
Doesn’t this make you curious, for all kinds of reasons!?
Who was Wilfred H. Schiedel? How did he die at age 27? What did he accomplish as a peace-maker? How did it become a ‘hobby’? Who made the decision to carve this ‘hobby’ on his memorial stone? Was it a bold move? Would everyone who knew him agree this was an accurate depiction of his ‘hobby’?
My sister just couldn’t help herself after she spotted my post on Instagram about this gravestone. So, of course she dug up some research and here is what she found about Wilfred H. Schiedel.
About Wilfred H. Schiedel, buried in Mount Hope Cemetery
- Wilfred Hoffman Schiedel was born in Waterloo, February 23, 1894. He was the only son of Cyrus and Emma Schiedel.
- In 1896, Cyrus and Emma built a large red brick home on the corner of Albert Street North and Bridgeport Road, Waterloo. The house has been torn down but this photo shows the parents, Cyrus and Emma Schiedel, and possibly Wilfred, standing beside them in front of the house.
- The family’s religion was German Evangelical, where Cyrus and Emma were active members; Emma played the organ at the church for many years.
- Wilfred had recurring bouts of rheumatic fever that first started with a wet cold winter in 1908 when he was just 14 years old. (CEF medical files)
- He enrolled in McGill University in Montreal in 1915
- Wilfred worked as a miner in Timmins Ontario and worked there in 1917 when he was drafted for World War One.
- Wilfred was drafted to the Canadian Expeditionary Force in October of 1917. While on guard at a base in Toronto, he suffered acute flare ups of his rheumatoid arthritis that led to hospitalization and eventual discharge from service in August of 1918. He never left Canada during his brief war service.
- In February of 1921, he died in his sleep of sudden heart failure in Timmins where he was employed as a shift boss at the Hollinger Mine. (Porcupine Advance)
- Obituaries about Wilfred described him as “young, robust, strong, whose energy had brought success early in life, with great opportunities ahead of him.” (Kitchener Daily Record) and, he was “highly esteemed in his home community” (Chronicle), and “He had a quiet and very likeable disposition and a host of friends.” (Porcupine Advance).
It still doesn’t answer our question!
This research sketches a brief outline of our young man, Wilfred Shiedel. But, it still doesn’t answer the big question about the curious addition of ‘PEACE-MAKING’ as his hobby.
Have you ever researched a name you found on a cemetery grave stone? What did you find about the person? Was it easy to fine? How long did it take you?
If you had a ‘hobby’ etched on your grave marker, what would it be?
Obituary Clippings
