Samuel & Martha Pletsch

Dates:

Samuel Pletsch: b. 1885 d. 27th April 1959

Martha Pletsch: b. 1889 d. 27th April 1959

Cemetery Location:

Samuel Pletsch: Block E, Row 2, Plot 26

Martha Pletsch: Block E, Row 2, Plot 26

Profiles:

A mudslide claimed the lives of long-term Revelstoke residents, Samuel and Martha Pletsch, on CPR Hill on Good Friday, 1959. 32-year old nurse, Vera Schuetze, and her 10-month old son, Eric, were also killed in the slide.

Samuel Pletch was a native of Walkerton, Ontario. He worked as Canadian Pacific Railway yard foreman in Revelstoke for many years, and his love of gardening was evident in their large garden on CPR Hill.

Martha Pletsch came to Revelstoke in 1900 from the Maritimes when her father, the late Reverend W.C. Calder, became minister of the local Presbyterian Church. At the time of the tragedy, Martha had a daughter from her first marriage, Mrs. Fred Westlake, a brother Merle Calder and a sister Mrs. Dan McIntosh.

Samuel Pletsch had two sons, Earl and Norman, and two daughters, Nellie and Florence. (Earl Pletsch became one of Revelstoke’s most prominent ski jumpers.)

Samuel & Martha Pletsch's son, ski jumper Earle Pletsch, 1947.