The LaSalle Mennonite Cemetery was established in 1928 by Mennonite settlers who arrived in this area as refugee immigrants from Southern Russia in 1924. The first group was from the village of Tiegenhagen (now Levadnoe near Molochansk in Ukraine) in the Molotschna Colony. They were joined later by Mennonite families from other villages and colonies in Russia. Those who led the effort to establish the cemetery and church were Jacob Dahl, Abram Enns, and Wilhelm Schulz.

These refugee immigrants left their homes after the 1917 Russian Revolution because as Mennonite they had lost their religious and economic freedom and had also been subjected to much violence during the ensuing civil war and from roving bands of anarchists. Canada offered them a safe haven and a land of opportunity.

The first immigrants could not afford a church and so they worshiped collectively in their homes. In 1928 this plot of land was donated by the Dahl family to serve as the site for their cemetery and church. The church was constructed in 1930 with the generous financial help of Mr. James Stewart, a Winnipeg businessman who had sold farms to some of these pioneers. The building served as the home of the LaSalle Mennonite Congregation until 1953 when the congregation moved to a larger building in nearby Domain.

The LaSalle Mennonite Christian Burial Society was formed in 1971 by descendants of these pioneers to preserve and maintain the cemetery for the benefit of future generations. This plaque was erected in 2011 by the society to serve as a remembrance of the courage of these pioneering ancestors who faced a sometimes harsh new world to seek religious freedom and economic opportunity for their families.



Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD13-18-08-02-E1

In the Rural Municipality of Macdonald

Located SW of the town of La Salle, MB, on the east side of Macdonald Road (Provincial Road 6E), 3.7 km (2.3 miles) south of the junction with Provincial Road 247



A part of the story of the town and its inhabitants from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1986 is told in the volume "Then to Now - The History of La Salle, Manitoba", especially starting on page 51. A digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".