Family devastated by memorial removal

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This article was published 10/11/2023 (567 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Family and friends of a man who lost his life in a backyard in Steinbach are reeling after the City of Steinbach ordered them to remove a memorial from near the site of his death.

Allison Zaporozan has become a spokesperson for the family of Ryan Maynard who was reported missing Nov. 20, 2022 and whose body was found April 12, 2023 in a Gordon Street backyard, just off Hespeler Street.

Ryan is her boyfriend’s cousin and she was close to Ryan, inspiring the creation of a memorial cross created by her boyfriend’s father.

But an order from the city to remove the cross is not sitting well with her or the family, who thinks it would have been allowed to stay if it was for a more prominent citizen and if it didn’t remind the city of problems of addictions and homelessness.

The city on the other hand, says it’s simply a matter of policy, and while they had granted permission for the memorial to be placed, it was always intended to be temporary.

For Zaporozan, it’s a tough blow, one she vows to continue fighting.

She said the order to take the cross down by Oct. 31, was tough to take. An appeal to city staff to allow it to stay up until Nov. 20, the day Maynard went missing was denied.

The reason city staff gave for the removal was also connected to snow removal. The city said snow pushed off Hespeler Street and the adjacent sidewalk would damage the cross.

But Zaporozan said she thinks the city is embarrassed about the attention the memorial brought to its homelessness and addictions problems.

“They’re trying to brush addictions and mental health (issues) under the rug,” she said.

Zaporozan said the family was devastated by the city’s decision.

“We were a mess because that’s the place where his five-year-old daughter goes to visit. That’s the place where his mom goes to visit,” she said. “We all go to visit. We all sit there and talk to him.”

While the cross is currently stored at her home, Zaporozan said they will continue to go to the site.

“We’re not going to stop going there to put flowers,” she said. “All the time there’s going to be signs and flowers there. That’s not going to stop.”

Describing the situation as “heart wrenching”, Zaporozan said she is circulating a petition through social media, calling for the city to reverse their decision. She’s also certain that Maynard’s status in the community is part of the reason the cross was ordered removed.

“Ryan was also a person and if this was somebody else’s kid that was on council, that cross would have stayed up,” she said.

The City of Steinbach however said the removal had nothing to do with the specifics of Ryan’s death or who he was.

“What we allow for one, we allow for all,” Mayor Earl Funk said. “That’s how it goes.”

In a statement issued by the City of Steinbach, they said “city policy does not permit structures of any kind on public property unless it is for municipal purposes”.

“Based on a request received this spring for the memorial, and out of compassion for the family, an exception was granted for the memorial to be placed at its location for a period of time.”

Mayor Earl Funk confirmed the memorial was always supposed to be temporary but admitted they did not give the family an end-date.

He said the cross had to be removed before snow plowing increased.

“We would end up wrecking that cross and we didn’t want to do that,” he said.

He added that it made sense at the time to allow a temporary memorial.

“We really felt bad for the family and we just felt this would be a good way for them to give them a little bit of an opportunity to find closure,” he added.

Funk said he would be willing to look deeper into this issue as council reviews bylaws and the Official Community Plan this winter.

Meanwhile Zaporozan vows to keep fighting the decision.

“This isn’t over yet,” she said.