Yves Lahaie has worked for the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery in Montreal his entire life, carrying on a nearly 100-year tradition in his French Canadian family.
When he was a teenager, he began mowing the grounds’ grass every day of the week. Since then, Lahaie has taken charge and he not only raised his own children on the cemetery’s grounds, but has also played a pivotal role in easing other families’ pain on the worst day of their lives.
“To me, everybody that is here, we have to give respect to them,” Lahaie said.
The Lahaie family was honoured this week for its unique partnership spanning decades with the sprawling cemetery in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. Four generations of workers were recognized with their own section named after them in a touching ceremony Monday.
“It’s like my family,” Lahaie said. “This place is my family.”
The family has dedicated themselves to maintaining the site, starting with Lahaie’s grandfather, who began his career in the 1930s and dug graves by hand.
“Sixteen members of the same family have worked in this cemetery. It’s incredible, it’s a partnership,” said Jonathan Wise, executive director of the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery.
“Without them, we couldn’t do this. They know every single section, they know every single portion.”
The first headstone was installed in 1890, though the cemetery was formally founded in 1905. As Montreal’s primary and largest Jewish cemetery, it is home to Holocaust memorials and the final resting place for many in the community, including a Titanic victim, renowned authors and rabbis.
Wise said there are about 62,000 people buried on the grounds, which accounts for more than two million square feet of land. The upkeep, especially with climate change, is “enormous” and one that the Lahaie family takes to heart.
“It’s a real family legacy and they really take care of us,” Wise said.
The family had their own home on the grounds. Lahaie moved in to raise his children after his uncle offered him a full-time job in November 1975.
Lahaie is a perfectionist who worked nearly 70-hour weeks to ensure the cemetery was always up to his own high standards. He said “everything has to be right.” His family also cares for the Back-River grounds, which merged with the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery in 2012.
Over the past 49 years, Lahaie has helped with countless funerals but what he has most enjoyed is being part of major changes.
“We’ve done drainage, fixing monuments and raising grounds,” Lahaie said. “Big jobs. I love to do that.”
Steve, his son, has also carried on the family tradition. As a six-year-old child, he took an interest in learning about the equipment from his father and embraced the expansive land as his backyard.
“It’s my in blood,” Steve Lahaie said.
With the cemetery needing additional space and most of the family located in St-Eustache, the organization chose to take the house down to make way for new gravestones. That is when it was decided to name a part of the cemetery after the family.
“We wanted to say thank you to them for this incredible effort that they’ve done for us,” Wise said.
The family was thrilled by the gesture.
“This is a big surprise for me,” said Lahaie, who is retiring after nearly half a century of hard labour. “It’s very touching.”
His son Steve, who will continue the work that has spanned 96 years, wasn’t shocked the cemetery chose to honour his dad and past generations.
“He gave his life to the place so I’m really proud,” he said.