Gordon Ritcey's Memorial Fund for Bayview United
GORDON RITCEY'S MEMORIAL FUND FOR BAYVIEW UNITED CHURCH
This GoFundMe site has been created in memory of Gordon Ritcey, who passed away on February 15, 2021 in the town of Bay View, Nova Scotia. It is being administered by his son Doug.
Those who wish to make donations can make them here, where a small amount of money makes a big difference in the maintenance and preservation of the one hundred and fifty year old Nova Scotia church and cemetery where he will rest, along with his late wife Gladys, parents, grandparents and many other relatives. All donations will be transferred to the church cemetery fund.
Funding Goal
If you wish to donate, please feel welcome to donate any amount that is comfortable for you, now matter how small. An arbitrary amount of $300 was used as a funding goal because GoFundMe requires a number in this column.
Important - If you Require a Tax Receipt
If you require a receipt from a registered charity, do not donate here. Instead, leave a message and Doug will provide an address where you can donate directly to the United Church of Canada for the Bayview cemetery.
About the Church
Bayview United Church was built in 1873, perched on a hill along the Atlantic coast, approximately eight kilometres from the town of Digby in the community of Bay View. It is walking distance (a long walk) from the Point Prim lighthouse, where a light was kept burning for many years by Gordon's relatives, and the historical life saving station where Gordon's grandfather and other relatives once put out to sea in row boats, to rescue craft in distress. The charm of the church includes its kerosene lamps (there was no electricity when it was constructed and that remains the case today), its heating system (which consists of a closet for firewood and a wood stove placed in the centre aisle) and its intimate size (an open area of only thirty-three by twenty-four feet). With the assistance of a balcony, and if the congregation is on good enough terms to get close with their neighbours, the church holds one hundred fifty souls.
Musical accompaniment is provided by a bellows organ (sound is generated when the organist pumps a bellows by foot), although the organ is not currently functional.
The cemetery is occupied by generations of local families, including the related Ellis-Ritcey-Adams families. Many of the occupants of the cemetery lived on or by the sea, and include fishing families, light house keepers, the discoverer of the 1887 Ellis comet (Gordon's great grandfather) and boat builders and repairers.
How Donations Will be Used
There was a time when the church was opened to the community weekly, regardless of season and weather. Today, it is opened only a few days a year; there is a larger, more modern church in the nearby town of Digby. Maintenance costs of the cemetery and church building itself at Bayview United have become a concern. Donations to this GoFundMe page, which has been created by Gordon's son Doug Ritcey, will be transferred by Doug to the Bayview United Church Cemetery Fund, to be used for maintenance of the graves in the cemetery. GoFundMe will take a 2.9% fee from each donation, which is similar to fees charged for use of a credit card.
To all of those who knew Gordon and were his friends, neighbours or colleagues - thank you for the parts of your life that you shared with him.
