For more than 100 years, Constable John Johnston’s final resting place was an unmarked grave at Regina Cemetery. More than a century after his death, the first Regina Police Service officer to die while on active duty will finally have a headstone. In the early morning of June 29, 1913, Const. John Johnston was found, lying on the ground after suffering a deadly aneurysm. His death was briefly documented in the Regina Police Service’s annual reports, but there was little known about the young officer who joined the force only three weeks earlier. Johnston went unrecognized in the Regina Cemetery for 113 years before retired law enforcement officer and forensic investigator Allan Vance came across a few lines while researching old annual police reports. There was no information past the acknowledgement of Johnston’s death in police records, so Vance kept digging. “I went online, I went to the library, I went to Saskatchewan archives, and I found old newspaper clippings about the fact that he was from Ireland,” Vance said. There were no records of family members, so Vance continued searching. He eventually found Johnston’s immigration records, including details about his journey from Ireland to Canada, as well as a photo of the ship Johnston journeyed on across the Atlantic. Johnston had only recently arrived in North America when he joined the Regina Police Service. For Vance, learning about the young officer’s journey was reminiscent of his own trip overseas as a young man. “I came over from the Netherlands by myself when I was 18 years old, and I bobbed up and down the Atlantic in April, which is not a pleasant place to be, and I could just picture him doing the same thing.” Vance says newcomers at the time had few of the services and supports available today. “You’re basically on your own,” he said. “And I thought, this could have happened to me.” That connection strengthened Vance’s determination to make sure Johnston was not forgotten. Vance eventually connected with Frontier Monuments. For the company and owner Adam Reeson, the project offered a chance to connect his own century-long family history in Regina. “My family has been in the monument industry for over 100 years in Regina,” said Reeson. “To be able to have that connection to the community back then, through the generations now, and to be involved with this project, it’s very important and really means a lot to me and my company.” With plans for the monument in place, Vance turned to the community for help covering the cost. He launched a GoFundMe campaign, hoping residents would help give Johnston the memorial he’d been missing for 113 years. “This community is fantastic. They really stepped up,” Vance said. Donations came not only from police personnel but members of the public, including some from as far away as Edmonton. “It took eight days to exceed the funding requirement,” Vance explained. Johnston’s grave will be officially marked in mid-October, more than a century after his death. His grave will become part of Regina Cemetery tours, ensuring Johnston’s name, and his service to the city, can be remembered by generations to come.
