“They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters”¹

These lyrics from Gordon Lightfoot’s iconic song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald have long been etched in the minds of listeners, who like me, have found themselves enthralled by Lightfoot’s masterful storytelling.

This song, along with many of his other hits, like If You Could Read My Mind and Sundown, have created the soundtrack for countless Canadians, evoking the beauty, melancholy, and vastness of our Canadian landscape.

Today on the blog, I want to share my experience from this past September. I had the opportunity to visit the Gordon Lightfoot Sculpture Park and his final resting place in his hometown of Orillia, Ontario.

Gordon Lightfoot. Photo: Arnielee, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Gordon Lightfoot

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot was born on November 17, 1938² in the small town of Orillia, the gateway to the Muskokas.³ From an early age, Lightfoot showed a natural talent for music, learning the piano, teaching himself to play drums, and later picking up the guitar.² In 1957, Lightfoot left Canada, going to Los Angeles to study jazz orchestration at Westlake College of Music.² After returning to Canada in the late 1950s, he began to sing folk songs and play guitar around Toronto.²

It didn’t take long for Lightfoot to make his mark on the Canadian music scene. His folk-infused ballads quickly captured the essence of the Canadian spirit. Throughout his career, Lightfoot released over 20 albums and was known for his blend of folk, country, and soft rock—a style uniquely his.²

Lightfoot received numerous prestigious awards throughout his music career, including multiple Juno awards, and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986.² He also earned honours like the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.² Lightfoot was recognized in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and received a Lifetime Achievement award from SOCAN and the Toronto Music Awards.²

One of my favorite Lightfoot songs is based on a real-life event, the tragic sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, in my opinion, is one of his most famous and most haunting ballads.

The song is a tribute to all the lives lost in the shipwreck, on November 10, 1975. It’s estimated that between 7:20 and 7:30 p.m. on that fateful day, the ship vanished and sank with 29 men onboard.⁴

S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald. Photo: United States Army Corps of Engineers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Gordon Lightfoot Sculpture Park

I knew my visit to Orillia would not be complete without a visit to the Gordon Lightfoot Sculpture Park and walking trail. We visited in late September, and the trees were just beginning to change. A perfect day for a walk.

The sculpture park is a beautiful and artistic tribute to Lightfoot’s music and legacy, celebrating both his achievements and his connection to the area. The park’s centerpiece is a striking, larger-than-life bronze sculpture of Lightfoot, sitting cross-legged with his guitar in hand. It captures him in his element, mid-song as his music comes alive around him, depicted on maple leaves that encircle him.
I took some time to reflect while standing before the statue. The park is not just a collection of art pieces, but a reflection of Lightfoot’s connection to the land, his music, and the people who grew up listening to his songs.

My mother and I were not the only visitors to the park that day. There were throngs of people walking the trails, many with large cameras in hand. I noticed they all took some time to admire the beautiful sculpture work and reflect on Lightfoot’s life and work as well.

I wondered if Lightfoot himself had known about this sculpture park. I was pleasantly surprised to see a large plaque that showed Lightfoot smiling as he stood beside his younger, bronze self. He was in attendance for the unveiling in 2015, and said humbly “I’m honoured, much more so than any of the honours I’ve received up to this point in time.”⁵

Gordon Lightfoot Sculpture Park. Bronze sculpture work by Timothy P. Schmalz. Orillia ON ©2024

St. Andrews and St. James Cemetery

After walking the entirety of the walking trail loop, my mother and I made our way back to the car. We decided since the area was so nice that we would have our picnic lunch in the sculpture park, before heading to our next destination—the cemetery.

It was a short drive from the park to St. Andrews and St. James Cemetery. The cemetery was quiet and serene, offering beautiful views of the surrounding forest, although we were not the only living souls visiting the cemetery that day. There was an older couple who were also meandering through the cemetery paths.

Gordon Lightfoot passed away of natural causes, in a hospital in Toronto, at the age of 84.⁶ He was laid to rest in St. Andrews and St. James Cemetery in May of 2023, beside his mother and father. His mother, Jessie Vick Trill Lightfoot passed away in 1998 at the age of 88.⁷ His father, Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Sr. passed away in 1974 at the age of 63.⁸

The gravestone is simple, yet elegant—a testament to the quiet humility Lightfoot always embodied, despite his fame. The inscription simply reads “Together Forever”.

The grave of Gordon Lightfoot. St. Andrews and St. James Cemetery, Orillia ON ©2024

Visiting Gordon Lightfoot’s grave and walking the trails at the Sculpture Park in Orillia was a beautiful and memorable experience. I couldn’t help but think about how his music had been woven into the fabric of Canada’s history. More than just melodies, they’re stories that often capture the essence of the Canadian experience.

There is something special about visiting the final resting place of someone whose music has shaped the soundtrack of a country.

What is your favorite Gordon Lightfoot song?

Thanks for reading!

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References:

1. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot | S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online
2. Gordon Lightfoot | The Canadian Encyclopedia
3. Location | City of Orillia
4. The Tragedy | S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online
5. Gordon Lightfoot sculpture unveiled in Orillia | Orillia
6. Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot dead at 84 | NBC News
7. Jessie Vick Trill Lightfoot | Find a Grave
8. Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Sr. | Find a Grave