Holy Cross Cemetery, Thornhill, Ontario

Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery is a 145 acres (58 hectares) cemetery in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada north of Toronto.

Located east side of Yonge Street south of Highway 407, it was created in 1954 by the Archdiocese of Toronto as an alternate burial grounds for Catholics in Toronto as Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery and St. Michael’s Cemetery in Toronto were reaching capacity.^[1]

There are two sections due to presence of the Canadian National Railway (and servicing GO Transit Richmond Hill line) tracks:

West The main entrance is from Yonge Street with most of the burial sites along with other structures:

• Cemetery Offices
• Bishops Mausoleum
• Station of the Cross Prayer Garden
• Resurrection Mausoleum
• Blessed Virgin Mausoleum

Pomona Mills Creek runs through this section of the cemetery.

East

Accessed from Langstaff Road via Bayview Avenue this section of cemetery is partially developed and home to the Holy Family Mausoleum. The Holy Family Mausoleum is a three storey brick structure with Doric columns.

The cemetery was built on the Lots 33 and 32 belonging to settlers William Parsons (postmaster of the Village of Thornhill and Henry Miller).

Unlike Mount Hope and St. Michael's Cemeteries, Holy Cross was established with additional capacity with a larger property.

Notable burials

Notables buried here include:

• Roman Catholic Archbishops of Toronto Philip Francis Pocock (d. 1984)
• Roman Catholic Archbishops of Toronto Gerald Emmett Carter (d. 2003)
• Roman Catholic Archbishops of Toronto Aloysius Ambrozic (d. 2011)
• Naturalist Charles Sauriol (d. 1995) and his wife Simonne M. Sauriol (d. 2005)
• Professor and philosopher Marshall McLuhan (d. 1980)

Other Catholic Cemeteries in the Greater Toronto Area

Major properties in the GTA include:

• St. Paul’s Church Cemetery 1822 - Toronto
• St. Michael’s Cemetery 1855 - Toronto
• Mount Hope Catholic Cemetery 1900 - Toronto
• Resurrection Cemetery 1964 - Whitby
• Assumption Cemetery 1968 - Mississauga
• Queen of Heaven Cemetery 1985 - Woodbridge
• Christ the King Cemetery 2004 - Markham

There are a list of smaller cemeteries as well:

• Mount Peace Cemetery, Mississauga
• St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Streetsville
• St. Mary’s Cemetery, Brampton
• St. Mary’s Cemetery, Port Credit
• St. Luke’s Cemetery, Thornhill
• St. Michael’s Cemetery, Toronto
• St. Francis De Sales Cemetery, Ajax
• St. Wilfred’s Cemetery, Ajax
• St. Gregory’s Cemetery, Oshawa
• St. John the Evangelist Cemetery, Whitby
• St. Joseph’s Cemetery, Scarborough
• Our Lady of Victory Cemetery, Scarborough
• Queen of Clergy Cemetery, Scarborough
• St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Markham

Other burial sites not within cemeteries include:

• St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto)
• St. Augustine's Seminary - Toronto

References

• Holy Cross
• Jennifer McKendry Into the silent land : historic cemeteries & graveyards in Ontario Kingston, Ont.: c2003.

Coordinates: 43°49′54″N 79°25′21″W / 43.8317°N 79.4226°W / 43.8317; -79.4226