Darleene Horricks, a Saanich resident whose ancestors were part of the Black Pioneers who relocated from San Francisco, California to Victoria, had been attempting to piece together her family tree since 2010.

However, one important piece was missing: her maternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Whims, whose grave was said to be in Shady Creek Cemetery behind Central Saanich United Church.

鈥淥ral history in our family always had said she was at Shady Creek where a lot of other black folks are,鈥� she said.

When Horricks was searching for her great-grandmother's grave, the first location that came to mind was a plaque commemorating the arrival of Black Pioneers at Shady Creek Church in Saanichton. Charles Alexander, one of the first black settlers in Victoria, helped build the church in the 1860s. 

Horricks requested help from the Saanich Pioneer Society, but they could not identify the grave's location.

Her search led her from Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria to St. Stephen's Anglican Church in Saanichton, where she met David Scarth, the cemetery's records manager.

鈥淲e found a cemetery plan but it wasn鈥檛 on it. But later on the church and David found another plan that mentioned who they were,鈥� Horricks said.

A pencil-drawn cemetery plot plan from 1880 was discovered in the church cemetery vault in 2014 during the record transfer to the new cemetery office. This revealed a full burial for Whims in plot 64, which was marked as "unknown."

鈥淣ormally churches keep a lot of information,鈥� said Darleene鈥檚 husband, Dale. 鈥淏ut they lost it or something and they found this one piece of paper that was just really marking gravesites and said, there鈥檚 someone here.鈥�

On Oct. 7, 2024, a gravestone for Elizabeth Whims (1817-1870) and her daughter Maria (1856 - May 1870) was finally erected on lot 64.

On Sunday afternoon (Feb. 16), a simple ceremony was held to bless and honour the Whims. Darleene's family, including husband Dale and niece Jennifer Duthler, along with some parishioners, were all present for the special day. 

During the short service inside St. Stephens, Rev. Jacqueline Stober of Victoria鈥檚 Christ Church Cathedral addressed the Horricks. 鈥淚 absolutely have no idea that there was a heritage of black presence here in this place," she said.

Stober joined Rev. Lon Towstego, parish priest in the Anglican Church, and the parish of Central Saanich to commemorate the important day in Darleene's family, which coincides with Black History Month.

鈥淚 actually love telling people that my ancestors brought themselves out of slavery and made their way to Canada,鈥� Duthler said.

鈥淎nytime we can put a marker on a grave that hasn鈥檛 been marked and I very much say that with the First Nations folks in mind as well, with the unmarked graves, it's my prayer that one day we can mark every grave,鈥� added Towstego.

It took a long time, but Darleene is grateful to everyone who helped her along the way and she is relieved to finally see her great-grandmother's name on a gravestone, where a large stone had sat unmarked for over a century.

鈥淚t鈥檚 time for all to come together so I can fill in the blanks in the family tree and for the younger people to know who their ancestors are and to be able to go that far back,鈥� Darleene said.