OCFA

Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid

ABOUT THIS DATABASE



Information about OCFA '98

Version SIX of The Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid, contains more than ONE MILLION additional entries. Please note it is a SUPPLEMENT to the previous OCFA FIVE release. Researchers will require Version 6 *AND* Version 5 to ensure a complete OCFA '98 database, amounting to more than TWO MILLION entries.

Purpose

This database is intended as a "pointer" database only. It consists of the surnames, given names, cemetery name and location of more than two million interments in Ontario and one county in the province of Quebec. The file does not contain transcriptions or dates, but it does tell the researcher which county, township and cemetery contains a given surname.

Volunteers

The number of historical and genealogical organizations involved in the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid project has grown considerably since the release of Version Five. The growing popularity of the OCFA database as an Ontario research tool has been greatly enhanced, thanks to the Grenville County Historical Society, the St Joseph Island Historical Society, the Rideau Township Historical Society, the Muskoka-Parry Sound Genealogy Group, the Pittsburgh Township Historical Society, the Lakeshore Genealogy Society, the West Elgin Genealogical & Historical Society and the Lanark County Genealogical Society. Also joining the OCFA project with this version of OCFA, are several more branches of the OGS, including Bruce & Grey, Elgin, Hamilton, Huron, Kent, Leeds & Grenville and Nipissing District. I would also like to publicly thank Larry Empey and Ross Cotton who contributed a significant number of cemeteries respresenting the counties of Dundas and Prescott. Researchers will also discover that many of the organizations who joined the OCFA project prior to this version, have continued to contribute to the database. There are tens of thousands of additional entries from the Upper Ottawa Valley Genealogical Group, the Temiskaming Genealogy Group and the Perth, Lambton, Kingston, Ottawa and Niagara Branches of the OGS.

While that growing list of organizations might seem impressive, it is the efforts of the OCFA volunteers who spent hundreds of hours converting the data from "paper to computer" or modifying existing computer formats, who deserve very special recognition. Without their support, the growth of the OCFA database might have stagnated several editions ago. The project owes much of its success to the extraordinary sacrifice of leisure time displayed by Cindy Miller, Marjorie Wilson, Marianne Wilkat, Fay Bertrand, Don Pettit, Sherri Pettit, Darryl Bonk, Charles Dobie, Earl Ross, Jim McKane, Larry Empey, Ross Cotton, Max Doan, Ron Freeman and Don Grisenthwaite.

I would like to extend my very sincere thanks to each and every volunteer whose name appears on the "OCFA Honour Roll". All of them have contributed to the growth of the OCFA database.

The OCFA version 6 Volunteers


      Gordon V. Ambrose               Brian Hurdle
      Hugh Armstrong                  Janet Iles
      Thelma Barnes                   Leonard Jenks
      Marjorie Beattie                Christine Kemp
      Fay Bertrand                    Glenn King
      Garry Bishop                    Elizabeth Ladouceur
      Roger Boardman                  Peggy Leader
      Darryl A. Bonk                  Kate MacKay
      Barbara K. A. Brown             Pat McCabe
      Dave Browne                     Jim McKane
      Anna Joan Buxton                Ian McKenzie
      Tom Carkner                     Cindy Miller
      Wayne Caverley                  Jane Miller
      Lynne Cook                      Don Park
      Ross G. H. Cotton               Barbara Paterson
      Maridel Crawford-Brown          Don Pettit
      Art Dainton                     Sherri Pettit
      Ralph Davis                     Lois Richardson
      Ron Demaray                     Earl Ross
      Max Doan                        Suzanne Schaller
      Charles Dobie                   Lorne Shunk
      Larry Empey                     Dianne Skinner
      Ron Freeman                     Howie Skinner
      Dan Gilbert                     Ron Smith
      George Goos                     Ken Smy
      Don Grisenthwaite               Jessica Veinot
      Leslie P. Higginson             Marianne Wilkat
      Brian Hinz                      Marjorie Wilson
      Norma Huber                     George Winfield


The OCFA version 5 Volunteers

      Rosemary Ambrose                Ian McKenzie
      Anne Ashton                     David McKnight
      Thelma Barnes                   Barbara McMahon-Dainton
      Roger Boardman                  Tom Miller
      Darryl A. Bonk                  David Oxland
      Barbara K. A. Brown             Don Park
      Anna Joan Buxton                Charles Patterson
      Gordon Carter                   Pat Patterson
      Lyle Clements                   Tina Patterson
      Art Dainton                     Paul Pepper
      Ron Demaray                     Don Pettit
      Charles Dobie                   Eva Pettit
      Fred Drew                       Sherri Pettit
      David Fahner                    May Prang
      Cecelia Gellman                 Price & Keeler
      Bryan Gidley                    Lois Richardson
      George Goos                     Dennis Robertson
      Steve Gray                      Earl Robichaud
      Brian Hinz                      Lorne Shunk
      Robert Horslen                  Dianne Skinner
      Peter House                     Ken Smy
      Norma Huber                     Cynthia Sytnyk
      Leonard Jenks                   Barry Taylor
      Christine Kemp                  Darren Thomson
      Dave Koch                       Lynda Toneri
      Denis F. Lawless                Steve Trincanati
      Karen Linneberg                 Jessica Veinot
      Donna Longhurst                 Marianne Wilkat
      Dona Madill                     Wayne Willson
      Ron Marshall                    Marjorie Wilson
      Ken McEvoy                      Kathy Witheridge
      Jim McKane                      Stuart Wright

The enthusiasm and energy displayed by all these individuals and organizations have helped make the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid project a continuing success. I thank you all. - Ron Demaray

Contribute to the next release of OCFA

If you have access to cemetery transcription indices, or have transcribed a cemetery or have collected cemetery data in the course of your pursuit of Ontario ancestors and want to share your efforts, please contact me:


        Internet   -  Email - ocfa@islandnet.com
                      Email - rsd@islandnet.com
                      URL - http://www.islandnet.com/ocfa

        Snail mail -  Metchosin Central
                      Box 48058,
                      3575 Douglas St,
                      Victoria, BC, Canada, V8Z 7H5.

The Final Word

It would be naive to believe that the OCFA database does not contain a growing number of inaccuracies. The process of data transfer from headstone to OCFA includes many steps and comes from many sources and is beyond my control.... errors are inevitable. Please do not hesitate to point out any errors or omissions that you encounter.

Good luck with your research. I hope this latest version of the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid helps you in that elusive search for your ancestors.

Enjoy.......... Ron Demaray

Copyright Information

Copyright (C), 2000 Ron Demaray.
Free, non-commercial distribution of OCFA is welcomed and encouraged provided the original format and all its component parts are retained. Permission to copy all or part of this work is granted, provided that the copies are not made or distributed for resale (except a nominal copying fee only to cover expenses may be charged), and provided that this readme.txt file, including the author-contact information and this copyright notice, are retained verbatim and are displayed conspicuously. You may not include these files as part of any CD-ROM, web site, or ftp site without the express written permission of the author. Any other use of OCFA, without prior written consent of the authors, is STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. If anyone requires other permissions that are not covered by the above, please contact the author.