A fallen World War One voluntary aid detachment nurse who tragically passed away in Swift Current 105 years ago has been properly honoured by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 56.

Morse's Grasslands Memorial installed a gravestone Sunday in Mount Pleasant Cemetery for Dorothy Bochin who died in 1919 while travelling from England en route to Australia.

The Legion came across her temporary marker in 2021 and made it their goal to have the white piece of wood replaced with a monument.

Bochin_temp_marker

John Griffin, public relations officer for the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 56, said honouring her means a lot to the Legion.

"We're forever grateful to Dorothy for her service as a VAD nurse caring for our wounded comrades," he said. "Her story is one of compassion, service, love, and ultimately tragedy."

Griffin, a genealogist, has spent the last couple of years trying to uncover more details on Bochin's life. He's discovered the temporary marker had a lot of inaccurate information that they've been able to correct on the new stone.

"Her name, date of birth, and death were incorrect," he said. "I'm very thankful I was able to find the information that we needed to correct that, that way she could be remembered properly."

The marker's purchase was made possible when Hutch Ambulance stepped forward with a donation of nearly $2,700 in January that was raised during their annual golf tournament.

The research for Griffin continues on Bochin's family as he's now trying to find relatives and ways to contact them. He's hoping family members can attend a dedication ceremony the Legion is planning for her in the future.

"Have a graveside service, talk about her life, a little bit about what the voluntary aid detachment nurses did, and essentially honour her," he said.

No date has been selected for the service yet.

Bochin's timelineThis document was prepared by John Griffin while researching Bochin