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Guest Appearance: Kenton de Jong from Regina Cemetery Tours – ParaGhoul Paranormal: Discoveries from the Dark
In this episode of ParaGhoul Paranormal: Discoveries from the Dark, I sat down with returning guest Kenton de Jong to talk all about the Regina Cemetery Tours.
Kenton is a podcaster, researcher, and the guide behind these local tours that explore the lives and deaths of people buried right here in Regina. What started as a fundraising effort has grown into a seasonal experience that blends history, tragedy, and storytelling, bringing the past back to life.
We talked about how the tours began, how he chooses which stories to tell, and what’s coming up this year.
Interview Highlights
What are the Regina Cemetery Tours all about?
I started by asking Kenton to explain what people can expect from one of his tours.
Kenton de Jong: “The tour talks about different people’s history who have had some kind of impact on the city.”
Kenton de Jong: “It covers a wide variety of people, different places.”
The tours don’t just focus on well-known figures. Instead, they highlight a mix of lives, including victims of tragedies, everyday people, and those connected to major historical events.
What inspired you to start the cemetery tours?
Kenton shared that the tours originally began as a way to give back and recognize forgotten history.
Kenton de Jong: “I wanted to raise money for the victims of the Spanish flu and give them a headstone.”
That initial goal turned into something much bigger. Today, the tours continue to raise funds, now focused on maintaining and preserving the cemetery itself.
Why do you run the tours as a fundraiser instead of a business?
One of the most surprising parts of our conversation was learning that Kenton does not take payment for running the tours.
Kenton de Jong: “All the proceeds go to the cemetery.”
He explained that while the funds currently go toward general maintenance, he is working to direct that money toward more meaningful restoration efforts, especially for damaged or neglected headstones.
How do you choose which stories to include in your tours?
This was one of the most interesting parts of the conversation, because there are tens of thousands of graves to choose from.
Kenton explained that it is a mix of research availability, storytelling, and balance.
Kenton de Jong: “It’s kind of a personal choice which one I want to talk about.”
Kenton de Jong: “Some of them are very well documented and some of them are very weakly documented.”
He also shared that he has to be mindful of tone and variety. While many stories involve tragedy, he seeks to include a mix of perspectives so the tours are not overly focused on a single narrative type.
What kinds of themed tours have you done, and will you continue them?
Last year, Kenton introduced themed tours, and they quickly became a hit.
Kenton de Jong: “June was cyclone victims… August was famous women of Regina… September was murder and mayhem.”
The themes helped create more focused storytelling experiences and allowed him to explore different aspects of Regina’s history more deeply.
He plans to continue expanding on this idea, with returning themes and new ones being developed for the upcoming season.
Is there anything new or exciting coming to the tours this year?
Kenton shared that new research is already shaping this year’s tours in unexpected ways.
Kenton de Jong: “I came across a new story that kind of changed my whole route.”
One of those discoveries involves a historical figure associated with the Ku Klux Klan in Regina, adding a new layer to the stories told within the cemetery.
He also hopes to reintroduce areas like the Jewish cemetery section, which offers a unique and important part of Regina’s history.
Conclusion
What I love about these tours is how they take something that might seem quiet or overlooked and turn it into a powerful storytelling experience. Kenton isn’t just sharing facts. He is uncovering the human stories behind the headstones, from tragedy to resilience, and everything in between.
With over 30,000 graves in the Regina Cemetery, there is no shortage of history to explore. And with new research constantly changing the stories being told, no two seasons are ever quite the same.
Would you take a cemetery tour to learn more about your city’s history, or do you prefer to explore places like that on your own?
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