WATCH: What these tombstones say about Kelowna’s past

• What local graves tell us about our past
• A shocking reality about a local graveyard's past

The Pioneer Cemetery is steeped in stories about Kelowna’s past and, in an important way has helped shape the present.

Each week, Kelowna Museums puts on Tombstone Tours, a guided exploration of the gravesites of past residents in the back of the main Kelowna Memorial Cemetery.

Among those buried are former mayors Dick Parkinson and Henry Raymer, and graves honouring those from Kelowna’s forgotten Chinatown.

Local historian and tour guide Bob Hayes told Kelowna10 those who sign up for the tours are surprised to hear Pioneer Cemetery was racially segregated when it was first designed and developed.

“There was an Asian section of the cemetery where the Japanese and Chinese were buried and they were not allowed to be buried with the other population,” Hayes said. “That really shocks people to think that a cemetery could be segregated.”

He said these tours are a great way of telling stories of our past and how it provides a good snapshot of our changing community.

“We are more inviting; we are a bigger community and frankly more interesting. When I grew up here as a child, we were very English still,” Hayes said. “The cemetery reflects that. When you look around as you get into the more recent graves of the 1930’s and beyond, you see names that are not all English, they’re eastern European, southeast Asian. I just think that’s exciting.”

Hayes said those who join his tours are a good mixture of old and young residents, who appreciate learning about the past and Kelowna’s people, regardless of their social standing.

“I think it’s important to remember the pillars, but also the people who worked in the sawmill, who created the packing boxes for fruit, people who helped build the Kettle Valley Railway, the people who were gardeners and orchardists,” he said.

“One thing about death it equalizes people. In death everybody is basically the same. Their monuments might be different, but they’re all dead. And they all contributed some way to the community.”

A full list of tours can be found online.