Long Lake Cemetery Database

In the South End of the city of Sudbury, there is a cemetery that was created in the bush by Finnish pioneers with burials as early as 1930. It is located in Lot 6 Concession 5 in Broder Township. The cemetery plot, Parcel 6078 S.E.S., was purchased from the Crown on June 15^th 1933. The rectangular 1 hectare lot is about 85 by 123 meters and was surveyed September 7^th 1929 and patented July 8th 1933 to the then trustees Kaarlo Nissila, Alexander Majava, and Gabriel Lindgren.
 

The land is accessed by a dirt road 1.2 km south of the Highway 17 SW Bypass off Long Lake Road (Municipal Road 80) and approximately 500 meters east of Long Lake Road. The cemetery was built in anticipation of Long Lake Road using a more easterly approach closer to the cemetery. As the decades passed and families moved, the cemetery fell out of use about 1945. But it re-emerged in the public eye in the late 1980’s when a skull and other bones were dug up by teenagers. The police got involved, the bones were recovered, and a reburial held.
 

In January 2001 legal right to cross over the private lands owned by Hautamaki Estate (Parcel 3317) and Pagnutti Development (Parcel 25851) was obtained by the Finnish Canadian Historical Society. Since then a new fence has been erected around the property. Bushes obscuring headstones and crosses have been cleared and the access road upgraded. The City of Greater Sudbury has recognized the cemetery and is assisting financially with the restoration, upkeep, signage and insurance.

Since the original data was accidentally lost in a fire it has been an onerous task to find a complete list of burials. In September 8^th 2002 an Official Reopening took place with the unveiling of a bronze plaque on a granite rock listing the names of the 47 known burials at that time. It was recently verified that three of those persons are buried in Park Lawn Cemetery. With known records from various sources such as anecdotal recollections, church records, funeral homes, death records, city and provincial vital statistics, newspaper articles and obituaries it is believed that the 50 shown on the new plaque installed in 2019 is the actual number of burials. There are no markers to identify all the graves but in 2017 stainless steel crosses were placed at obvious gravesites. A table listing all known burials is found in this edition.

The cemetery is in the trusteeship of the Finnish Canadian Historical Society Sudbury Branch in recognition as a burial place for numerous local Finnish pioneers. In 2000 the trustees were Toivo Lain, John Saari, and Arnold Niemiaho. Later in 2006 the trustees were Veikko Kivikangas, Walter Lammi, Oiva Saarinen, and Antti Haaranen. The 2017 trustees are Walter Lammi, Ralph Toivonen, Bill Makinen, Paula Rautanen, and Timo Nordberg. The Historical Society has also dedicated a tree with a plaque for all their past chairs. Past chairs (in alphabetical order) include: Antti Armas Haaranen, Antti Heiskanen, Väinö Kuikka, Toivo Lain, Jussi Luoma, Jussi Mäki, Arnold Niemiaho, Rev.Lauri Pikkusaari, Leo Gunnar Raaska, Bruno Tenhunen and Einar Wilson.
 

Please let us know if you have any additional information. Email to Paula Rautanen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or telephone 705 522-7831.
 

Veikko Kivikangas was the driving force for the restoration of the Long Lake Cemetery and unfortunately he passed away on November 15th, 2014. The ownerrship of the cemetery is in the process of being transferred to the City of Greater Sudbury, although the Society remains committed to assist in its maintenance.
 

To view the photos of the gravemarkers and the memorial plaques click on the Gallery link below.

Gallery
 

The photos and plaques, for those without a marker, in the Album were kindly provided by Murray Pletsch, the webmaster of the Northern Ontario Gravemarker Gallery.
 

The gravemarkers were photographed by Martin Neva
 

Below is the database of the Long Lake Burials.