Owned and managed by The RM of Oakview, this cemetery was established in June 1882.

The Pettapiece Cemetery was established in 1882 on land owned by William Shanks.

The Ephriam Graham family arrived from Ontario in mid-March 1882. With them came their invalid thirteen-year-old daughter Laura. Her death in June of that year was the first in the community.

Mr. Graham with his neighbor, William Shanks, walked over their adjacent land seeking a suitable location for the burying ground. Being wet that spring, high ground on the southeast corner of Mr. Shanks' homestead (24-13-21) was chosen. The grave was marked with a picket fence.

(Source: The RM of Oakview's website)

A monumental stone is set between the large and small wrought-iron gates at the cemetery entrance bears this inscription: UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Dedicated to the memory of the pioneers who founded the Robertson Presbyterian Church in 1887, and of those who served faithfully in it & in the Pettapiece United Church from 1925 to 1959. "Ye are the Salt of the Earth".

(Source: Manitoba Genealogical Society [Adapted] and the RM's website)

A plaque listing parishioners of Pettapiece United Church killed during military service in the Second World War is located in Rivers United Church.

(Source: Manitoba Historical Society [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD01-24-13-21-W1

In the Rural Municipality of Oakview

A part of the town's story and those of its inhabitants from the early days of European settlement through roughly 1984 is told in the volumes "History of Blanshard Municipality - Volumes I, II, and III", especially starting on page 411. A free digital version of this and many other Manitoba local history books can be found online in the University of Manitoba Digital Collections. There is also a list of such books organized by district and town name on the Manitoba Historical Society's website on their page entitled "Finding Aid: Manitoba Local History Books".

A list of burials in this cemetery is available from the Manitoba Genealogical Society (reference #0084), transcribed by a member or members in 1979. Also available to MGS members is a searchable online database named the "MGS Manitoba Name Index" (or MANI). Some additional information is contained in the 1996 MGS publication "Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites" (revised edition, Special Projects Publication, 106 pages).