Fort Garry RC Cemetery is the parochial cemetery of St Vital Parish and is located along the banks of the Red River. It has a long and interesting history if one can judge by the names and dates engraved on the headstones. Some dates go back as far as 1914. It is of interest to note that this cemetery has occupied this location only since 1929. The first cemetery was in existence between the years 1914-1929. According to the obituary appearing in the publication "Le Manitoba" dated May 27, 1914, Mme Anastasie Nault was the first person to be buried in that first parochial cemetery.

Recorded history of the Parish indicates that "the cemetery was quite a distance from the Church and was inaccessible in wet weather" and so in 1928, Rev. Father J. Bertrand the Parish priest, approached the RM of Fort Garry to have the road to the cemetery improved. The Council at the time decided that it would be too costly to build a road and so agreed on a land swap with the Parish. So after some deliberation and along with a "few dollars", the Parish obtained the present location on Crescent Drive in exchange. Eliza Perreault was the first person to be buried in the new cemetery on December 4th, 1928. The courts granted permission for removal of the bodies in the Spring of 1929. The Winnipeg Free Press issue of September 9, 1934, states that Archbishop of Winnipeg, Alfred A. Sinnott, consecrated the new cemetery grounds and blessed the large central white cross.

The Cemetery is host to the remains of many prominent pioneers of the early St Vital Parish and later the RM of Fort Garry. The names include Andre Nault – who stopped the surveyors in 1869 and invited Louis Riel into the discussion. Andre was also instrumental in the Louis Riel resistance, manning the barrier in St Norbert. The Union Nationale Metisse would stop yearly on their pilgrimage to Louis Riel's grave and pay their respects at Andre's graveside in Fort Garry RC Cemetery. Other historic family names that appear on our headstones include Perreault, Carriere, Laurence, Richot, Plouffe and Hamelin.

Learn more about the history of St. Vital Parish and the Fort Garry Roman Catholic Cemetery in, "A Church on the Move", the first of a series of articles written by Louise Scatliff. (N.B., that document is available from the parish website)

(Source: St Vital Catholic Church website [2023; Adapted])

Many of the early burials in the cemetery are of people of Belgian descent, reflecting the Belgian settlement west of Pembina in the early part of the century.

(Source: Manitoba Genealogical Society [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD08-17-10-03-E1

As part of the merger of many local governments in 1972 to create "Unicity", or what is now referred to as "Greater Winnipeg", the municipality of Saint-Vital became a part of that larger jurisdiction.

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #0042), transcribed by a member or members in 1980-81 and again in 1995. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information is contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages). 

Additionally, the "Société historique de Saint-Boniface (SHSB)" centralizes, curates and makes available extensive records from various groups related to the communities established by the families of French and Métis descent who settled lived in, died in, or contributed to the story of Manitoba.