The following is an account of a trip to the old Mennonite cemetery at Whatshan provided by Greg Nesteroff

and the Arrow Lakes Historical Society

Went with the Arrow Lakes Historical Society last week to see
the old Mennonite settlement at Whatshan, and in particular its
incredibly obscure cemetery, which I only knew about because of
the book Just Where is Edgewood. I'm pleased to report we were
successful, thanks to a couple from Enderby who helped us.
Ramona Damen's great grandparents were among the original
settlers there ca. 1911-18.

These are the rough directions, although I'd like to go back
with a pedometer to measure more precise distances: coming from
Vernon, make a left onto Whatshan Settlement Road. It is the
last road before the hairpin curve towards the ferry landing.
Drive approximately 2 km until you see the old airport hanger on
the right. Park towards the far end of it.

The cemetery is on your left, thru the bush. Look for a pond,
and keep to the right. There is a path, but it may be hard to
find. There are two marked graves with a plastic white picket
fence around them. The first is of Barbara Krebs, who died in
1913. The second is of Elizabeth Wiebe, who died in 1912. This
was Ramona's great grandmother; the painted stone marker was
only placed there last year. She figures there may be a third
burial as well, of a Friesen baby who died in 1912. I'm
attaching pictures of the graves and a map prepared by John
Damen.

The Damens also gave me some genealogical info on the Krebs
family, which was great since I had no luck on my own. Herman
Krebs (1860-1950) married Barbara Reichel (1870 - 26 Jun 1913).
Barbara's mother had a reputation as an excellent midwife and
nurse. They had ten children: Fritz, Lena, Peter, Fred, Mary,
Ferdinand, Herman, Willy, Elizabeth, Constantia, the last of
whom was born the same year Barbara died. Herman then married
Katherine Friesen (1882Ð1924) and they had Alexander (1920-24)
and Annie.

The other really neat thing we went to see is a huge tree
planted in 1912, which since 1967 has had a sign imploring
would-be fallers not to cut it down. It is on the opposite side
of the road from the cemetery. Walk along the old road past the
far end of the airport hangar and look for a rose bush, which
has a bit of a path next to it up the hill. I'm attaching
pictures of it as well, and it is also indicated on the map.