The resting place of former Niagara-on-the-Lake resident and First World War hero Maj. Benjamin Geary at St. Mark’s Cemetery has been adorned with a new monument to commemorate his life and valour.
A dedication ceremony was held Sunday, Nov. 10, the eve of Remembrance Day, on the grounds of the church he attended from 1972 until he died in 1976.
“It is our deep honour to be able to remember him in this way and to bring forth his memory into this present time, and to pledge ourselves to never forget the heroic deeds that he and all those he fought with achieved,” said Leighton Lee, St. Mark’s reverend, at the ceremony.
Geary was born in London, England in 1891 and served in the English forces during the First World War, where he was awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery and determination on Hill 60 near Ypres, Belgium in 1915.
It was during this battle that a bullet struck him in the head, wounding him and causing him to lose complete sight in one eye, most of his sight in the other eye as well as some of his hearing.
Despite these wounds, Geary would continue to fight after a stay in hospital.
In the summer of 1918, he was again wounded, this time in the stomach.
“It was while lying on the battlefield, not sure if he was going to survive, that he felt called to the Christian ministry,” read a passage from a biography presented to attendees at the ceremony.
Geary would stay true to his battlefield pledge, becoming an ordained deacon in 1921 and a priest the following year.
In 1928, he moved to Canada where he accepted a position “with an organization whose charter was to promote fellowship among the various denominations,” continued the bio.
When the Second World War broke out, he enlisted in the Canadian Army with the hopes of serving overseas, but his superiors decided he would best serve as a commander training troops at Camp Borden, now known as Canadian Forces Base Borden.
After the war, he would go on to serve 24 years as Sergeant at Arms in the Ontario Legislature and retired to Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1972 where he became a member of St. Mark’s parish.
And now, near the entrance of the St. Mark’s cemetery in front of a pair of headstones adorned with the names of Geary and family members, a new stone tells his story.
“This is very special to have a Victoria Cross winner in our cemetery,” said veteran and NOTL resident Allan Magnacca, who was in attendance for the dedication.
Magnacca takes great pride in calling Geary a fellow NOTLer.
“He ended up living in Niagara-on-the-Lake, he was a member of St Mark’s, one of our readers, and so he just isn’t in our cemetery — he was part of us.”
