A long time coming: How the CSC community rallied support for the new memorial to fallen staff

On November 24, 1994, Dave St. Onge looked out the window of his office in Canada's Penitentiary Museum across the street to Kingston Penitentiary (KP). In front of the gates, he saw a woman and a man standing out in the bitter cold on the shore of Lake Ontario holding placards. He brought them out a hot chocolate and struck up a conversation.

He learned that Daphne Jenkins and Michael Wentworth were holding a vigil for their father, Guard William Wentworth, who was killed at KP on November 24, 1961. His murder was never solved but in 1993 new evidence was discovered that seemed to have identified the inmate responsible. The case went to court but was thrown out due to the time elapsed between the crime and the charges being laid.

The following year, Daphne began holding an annual vigil on the anniversary of her father’s death. Michael passed away in 1996, and sadly never got to see what him and his sister’s simple vigil would lead to.

Staff at KP were used to demonstrations, protests, and more in front of the building, so Daphne was largely ignored until Dave went and talked to her. Afterwards, the vigil began attracting more attention and staff would join Daphne in honouring her father and other fallen staff while calling for more awareness of their sacrifice and better protection for staff and support for their families.

“We decided to picket to say ‘look, what happened to my dad could happen to other guards. Let’s get some more protection for them,’” Daphne says.

Inspired by Daphne and Michael, Dave began researching fallen CSC staff. Over the years, he discovered five staff members who were omitted from CSC’s official count due to less standardized record keeping in the early days of corrections in Canada. Through research and advocacy, Dave was able to get Anton Fladeby, John Williams, Joseph Purcell, Stanley Blyth and Gabriel Childs recognized on memorials at CSC’s national headquarters and the regional headquarters across the country, as well as on the Canadian Peace Officer’s Memorial (CPOMA) on Parliament Hill.

“I'm doing research here all the time, I've been doing for years, and now and again I'd stumble on a name that wasn't on the list and so I'd follow it through,” he says.

Some of the missing names have also been discovered by volunteers doing genealogy research. When they come across a reference to corrections, they forward it to Dave to look into.

On October 6, 2004, Community Parole Officer Louise Pargeter was tragically killed on duty in Yellowknife. Louise’s death not only sparked safety reforms for parole work in remote northern areas, but a renewed interest in honouring staff who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

In 2006, a committee was officially formed to raise funds for a permanent and national CSC memorial in Kingston. The inaugural committee consisted of Daphne, Dave, KP Correctional Officers Gord McLeod (who served as the committee’s first president), Jimmy Joyce, Matt Smith (who later took over as committee president) and Scott Ritchie, KP Warden Donna Morrin and Donna Maillet. Scott Ritchie’s father, Roy Ritchie, drew the initial design, which was very similar to what is now in Kingston, and Donna Morrin’s husband, architect Peter Morrin, helped consult on the initial design. Shortly after the committee was formed, two more Correctional Officers from KP, Chris Veech and Ed Melanson Sr., joined in the efforts.

The committee would discuss designs and locations, but the bulk of their efforts were spent raising money. This involved selling lapel pins, challenge coins and t-shirts, holding BBQs, car washes, and more.

In 2014, the committee received approval from then-CSC Commissioner Don Head for the memorial, however, they still needed to secure the funding to go ahead. That same year, Jimmy Joyce passed away. Jimmy’s impact on the memorial was profound, and his loss was felt deeply.

“He had his heart and soul in in this project,” Dave says.

Because most of the committee members were active Correctional Officers, it was often difficult for them to all meet together due to the demands of shiftwork. This meant the momentum of the project would ebb and flow with their availability.

The work kept going through it all, though. When KP closed in 2013, studios became interested in filming movies there and Matt, Ed, Gord and Chris served as consultants on many films. In lieu of payment, they asked for a donation to be made to the memorial fund.

“On one such production, Matt got roped into performing and had to sign a contract and card and had to be paid for his time. Those funds came to the memorial,” says Ontario and Nunavut Regional Deputy Commissioner (RDC) Kevin Snedden.

In 2023, after 17 years of fundraising, the committee was still well short of their goal. RDC Snedden, who was very familiar with the committee and their work from his early days working in the region, approached Commissioner Anne Kelly to see if CSC could support the project. Commissioner Kelly approved a budget to make up the rest of the cost and suddenly, the idea of a national memorial became very real.

“A few months ago, it just sort of snowballed once they started putting everything in there,” Daphne says about the rapid progress made this year.

In March of 2025, just months before the memorial was to be unveiled, the committee experienced another loss with the passing of Ed Melanson Sr.

“He was determined to see this through,” Dave says. “So we want to acknowledge both of those guys (Jimmy and Ed) for their contributions.”

On October 29, 2025, on a crisp but sunny fall day, the memorial was unveiled in Kingston. The committee members were all in attendance with Daphne laying a wreath to her father and all fallen staff alongside Matt and Commissioner Kelly. While Jimmy and Ed couldn’t be there, their presence was felt that day and throughout the process.

“We say that they’re watching us and looking after us,” Daphne says. “And then when things go wrong we can say that’s them pulling pranks on us."

The development of the memorial was a collaborative process, with the committee members all working together towards the final goal. Throughout this journey, they have all become very close with one another. Daphne says it’s an honour to have gotten to know them all and to call them dear friends.

“They always treat me like I’m their mom or something,” she laughs. “They always make sure I’m okay.”

Many symbolic elements went into the final memorial. Stones from each of CSC’s five regions are included, with a stone from KP at the centre. Atop the stone from KP sits a bell from Stony Mountain Institution, which replaced KP as the oldest operating institution in Canada. On October 29, the bell rang out 35 times for each fallen CSC staff member as their names were read aloud. The memorial plaques not only include their names, ages and titles, but also the face of every staff.

“I’m glad we chose to show their faces up there so people can see them,” Daphne says. “You can look at the faces and go ‘oh, that man wasn’t very old.’ My dad was only 42."

The final memorial is open to the public to visit and pay their respects. It sits on the lawn of the National Training Academy, a short distance from where Henry Trail, the first fallen staff member, was killed in 1870 and the community correctional facility that now bears his name. Surrounded by CSC’s history, it serves as a reminder of those who gave their lives for the service and offers a place for reflection.

“That’s what hits me, that people can go up there and see what that stands for,” Daphne says. “It’s an honour to have a dad like that, even though I only knew him for 15 years. It’s an honour to know he died in the line of duty.”