When Sandi Duclos found out that her great-aunts' remains were being removed from a convent cemetery in Waterdown, the Kitchener woman was taken aback.
The great-aunts, Sister Helen and Sister Vincent Schneider, are buried at the School Sisters of Notre Dame cemetery near Hamilton.
"The cemetery in Waterdown at the School Sisters of Notre Dame is an absolutely beautiful place where sisters who have belonged to the convent go for their final resting," Duclos explains.
She says the nuns' family received a letter from the convent explaining that the decision had been made to remove and relocate their bodies after the sale of the convent grounds.
"A number of options were given consideration, with the primary focus being our desire to provide for the long term care of the cemetery in keeping with the faith of the Sisters buried within it," the letter reads in part.
That letter, bearing the signature of Sister Vivian Zoller, was dated July 2.
Duclos says she was upset when she heard the news, but is now coming to terms with the decision.
"My first initial reaction was of anger and not being able to understand why this decision has been made," she recounts.
Since, she's tried to accept the church's decision as the best one for the people buried on the grounds.
The nuns there will be relocated to Gate of Heaven Catholic Cemetery, about 1.5 kilometres away from their current resting place.
There, they'll have a dedicated section, where they'll be brought in a "dignified and respectful manner," the letter says.
The process, which is expected to take about a year to complete, is set to begin in July.
