True and Fascinating Canadian History
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The Mystery of The Mountie
and His Robust Rank
and His Robust Rank
by J. J. Healy
A friend recently photographed the grave marker which lies over the final resting place of Officer 0. 481, Chester Redmond Eves at 'Depot'. The wording and the rank on Mr. Eves' marker causes those who are familiar with RCMP history to experience a 'double take'.
Did you catch it? If not, you may need a brief review -- mixing sharp observations with RCMP history.
Officer O.481 / Reg.#13748, Chester (Ches) Redmond Eves was born on December 26, 1919 and he joined the Force on November 11, 1940. He served in various RCMP Divisions across Canada and in various capacities including having been assigned as the Senior Director of the RCMP Crime Detections Labs (CDL's) -- in them 'ole days, CDL's were located across Canada; Vancouver BC., Edmonton AB., Regina, SK., Ottawa ON. Sackville, NB and Halifax, NS. Mr. Eves died in 1989 and he was buried in the 'Depot' Cemetery. His wording on his grave marker is the mystery.
I was honoured to have met Mr. Eves many years ago at 'Depot' because his office was in the Regina Lab which was located on the same property as the 'Depot' Training Academy. Some years earlier, I had also attended a lecture presented by Mr. Eves and I knew his reputation as a studious, curious and fascinating scientist.
RCMP Veteran Ross Annand of Ottawa, at one time, was a visitor to the 'Depot' Cemetery. Ross wandered through the Cemetery, and he spotted the title of 'Commissioner' on Mr. Eves' marker. He questioned himself, -- he thought, "Was it possible that I overlooked a period of my career when Mr. Eves was the Commissioner? Was it remotely possible?"
Vet. Annand reviewed the Commissioners under whom he had served; there was: Higgitt, Nadon, Simmonds, Inkster, Murray and Zaccardelli. But, after several reviews, Ross concluded; 'I couldn't recall where Mr. Eves fit in to my career as one of the Commissioners? Yet, Ross mused, Mr. Eves was a scientist and surely he would not allow a error go unchallenged. After all, all through his career, Mr. Eves would have been declared an expert witness in criminal courts throughout Canada and any mistake which finds it way into the public domain is not expected or acceptable under the science banner.
Ross Annand also said that he enquired at 'Depot' about the obvious error but no one seemed to know the reason for the mistake on Mr. Eves' grave marker.
It was obvious that the mistake on his grave was a non-intentional error possibly made by the manufacturer of Mr. Eves' marker. It's not the first time a mistake of this kind has been made, and it might also be too expensive for it to be repaired.
But, if Mr. Eves looks down on 'Depot', I'm not sure if he would laugh or complain of digestion? Recall, that through all the years of his service, he promoted the exactness of the scientific method and in the eyes of a scientist, a mistake of this magnitude is non-forgiving.
In the Force, Mr. Eves rightly held the rank of Deputy Commissioner.
I hope that someone will rectify the error on Deputy Commissioner Eves' grave marker.
Reporting from the Fort,
J. J. Healy,
Reg.#23685
November, 2008
