Owned and managed by the parish of the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic Church (Sandy Lake) through the offices of the St. John the Baptist Church in Neepawa, MB

Ukrainian settlers started settling the lands around Sandy Lake near the end of the last century. At first, they came from the Chortkiv region and later from the villages of Kudrentsiv, and Borshchiv, and from the districts of Husiatyn and Terebovlia. The organizers of the parish of the Holy Ghost in 1909 were: Jacob Prokopchuk, Joseph Myzhekowsky, Hryhory Kristalovich, Stephen Kristalovich, Paul Tutkaliuk, Hryhory Proskiw, Illia Huculak, Mathew Zahodniak, Mykola Melnyk, Stephen Prokopchuk.

The settlement of Sandy Lake was first registered as a village in 1905.

The church of the Holy Ghost was first built by our settlers in 1909, The church was very small and rectangular, having a gable-end roof with an ornate dome at the centre of the roof. In 1937, the church was torn down and a new, present one was built on the site across the street. It was built on a site just south of the first church with the front facing onto the main street of the village.

The parish has two cemeteries: the first from 1908 — on a plot of land donated by Tom Warwaryk and not used after 1967, and another (this one) 1/4 mile (0.4 km) south of the church — which consists of two acres (0.8 hectares) of land purchased by the parish in 1920. In 1980, Fred Wasylenko and his family designed, built, and donated the ornate gates leading to the cemetery.

(Source: Ukrainian Catholic Churches of Winnipeg Archeparchy, pp 204ff and Sandy Lake – Our Roots -- A History of Sandy Lake and District, 1984, p 18 [Adapted])

Dominion Land Survey coordinates: LSD04-09-18-20-W1

In the Rural Municipality of Harrison Park

As noted above, 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 volume "Sandy Lake – Our Roots -- A History of Sandy Lake and District, 1984", especially starting on page 18. 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 #0994), transcribed by a member or members in 1995. 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).

As also noted above, the volume "Ukrainian Catholic Churches of Winnipeg Archeparchy", again freely available online via the U of Manitoba Digital Archives, provides information about the parish, especially starting on page 294. That one book of Volume IV in the set entitled "History of Ukrainian Catholic Churches in Canada".

In addition, the Ukrainian Museum of Canada (Manitoba Branch) centralizes, curates and makes available extensive records from various groups related to the communities established by the families of Ukrainian descent who settled lived in, died in, or contributed to the story of Manitoba.