A plaque was unveiled to honour 21 men killed in a fire in the Saint John Police lock-up at City Hall on June 21st, 1977. (Image: Tamara Steele)
A memorial was unveiled Monday morning to remember the 21 men killed after a fire broke out in the Saint John police lock-up in City Hall on June 21st, 1977.
Mary MacDonald put forward a proposal for a plaque to the Saint John Board of Police Commissioners which was unanimously approved. Her neighbours lost their son, Timothy Milne, in the fire.
Suzanne DeVenne travelled from Nova Scotia to attend the ceremony with four generations of her family. She was only 14 years old when her uncle, Wayne Matheson, died in the tragedy.
“I was a teenager when it happened and I missed my junior high prom and that’s a big deal in a teenager’s life. The prom was nothing anymore. It made for a very hard summer,” DeVenne said.
Thomas Leblanc, the president-elect of the First Special Service Force Association, came to remember Russell Shaw of Pocologan who served in the Second Word War and perished in the jail fire.
“Russell Shaw was in the First Special Service Force otherwise known as Devil’s Brigade during World War II. He was in the Carleton York Regiment,” Leblanc said.
Monsignor Brian Sheehan offered a blessing of the plaque remembering the victims of the fire.
“We remember that night in the presence of the remaining family members that suffered such painful losses,” Msgr. Sheehan said
Flags were lowered at City Hall and at 1 Peel Plaza on Monday and will be on every June 21st to honour the victims of the fire.
A memorial will be unveiled to mark lives lost during the detention centre fire on June 21st, 1977.
— Tamara Steele (@tamarasteele1) June 21, 2021
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