Cemetery a special ministry for many parishes

A monument honors contributors to the St. John Cemetery Trust Fund in Engelberg. The establishment of the fund in 1990 means parishioners do not have to purchase their final resting place.
A monument honors contributors to the St. John Cemetery Trust Fund in Engelberg. The establishment of the fund in 1990 means parishioners do not have to purchase their final resting place.

POCAHONTAS — On Nov. 2, a commemoration of all the faithful departed is celebrated as Catholics throughout the world reflect on All Souls Day upon those who have touched their lives by way of example.
Many lives were influenced by the 20 nuns laid to rest underneath the cedars of St. Paul Cemetery, one of the oldest parish cemeteries in the Diocese of Little Rock. In 1869, Father James P. O’Kean purchased the property for the Catholic cemetery, and for many years, it served as burial ground for Catholics throughout the area.
In the Diocese of Little Rock nearly 70 parishes have their own cemeteries to maintain while places, such as Subiaco Abbey and Holy Angels Convent in Jonesboro, support their own cemeteries. The diocesan Calvary Cemetery is located in Little Rock.
Many churches have met the challenges of caring for their cemetery by organizing committees and trust funds to ensure the grounds and headstones are properly maintained. Many continue the tradition of an annual clean-up day to prepare for All Souls Day.
Today, St. Paul Church in Pocahontas has a “good Samaritan” in volunteer Joe Bergman who maintains the cemetery.
“He won’t even let me buy the gas,” Hugh Steimel, who heads up the cemetery committee, said. “We’re completely out of space and about to begin an expansion project in a couple of months.”
Steimel said the money saved on mowing fees has allowed the cemetery fund to grow, allowing for the expansion to take place sooner than expected.
Those funds are generated by two parish collections each year and through the sale of cemetery plots, $125 for parishioners and $175 for non-parishioners.
Located northeast of Pocahontas, parishioners of St. John the Baptist in Engelberg are among the very few, if not only, recipients of free cemetery plots, because of a generous donation by the late Marcus and Josephine Thielemier for the purpose of establishing a trust fund to maintain the cemetery and church grounds. Several parishioners, whose names are inscribed on a memorial located at the cemetery, added to the original donation for the trust fund, which was established in October 1990. Only the interest generated from the fund is used to maintain the church grounds, with the number one priority being the cemetery. Cemetery plots are free to all members of St. John Parish with a $250 fee for non-members. The trust fund is managed by a six-member cemetery committee.
Bob Thielemier, who along with William Steimel and Frank Hausman compiled the first cemetery map in 1972, discovered that many of the original grave markers did not stand the test of time.
Shannon M. Stowe, parish administrator for St. Joseph Church in Tontitown, said this is a common problem in older cemeteries.
“The St. Joseph Cemetery was in the hands of the church and managed by the parish priests until sometime in the 1960s when it was handed over to a committee of six men,” Stowe said. “Priests come and go and the turnover had made it hard to keep the information on which plots were sold, the history, etc., but the six (member committee) provides more continuity,” she said.
Funds for cemetery maintenance are provided through the sale of cemetery plots, along with collection of dues to plot owners, or family members.
St. Joseph Cemetery is the final resting place of Father Pietro Bandini, who helped establish Tontitown for Italian immigrants in 1898. Also, the parish’s pastor, Father Joseph Correnti, who died in 2002, is also buried there. A memorial has been established to honor each of the well-known priests.
Stowe said the cemetery has been expanded “a few times” and today, a columbarium is in the planning stages, along with plans to grid the newest section of the cemetery.
Holy Cross Cemetery for Blessed Sacrament Church in Jonesboro also is managed by a cemetery committee and maintained through a permanent fund with money generated through the sale of cemetery plots.
Martha Stafford, whose great-grandfather David Depwe donated the land for the cemetery, said Holy Cross Cemetery has been in existence since 1889. No priests are buried there, but several nuns who died prior to the establishment of Holy Angels Convent were laid to rest at Holy Cross.
“Everything here runs pretty smoothly. That’s one of the reasons we formed the permanent care fund. Fortunately, the money has been invested wisely,” Stafford said.
However, like life, cemetery upkeep does not always run smoothly. Maintaining Calvary Cemetery in Fort Smith, which serves parishioners of St. Boniface, Christ the King and Immaculate Conception, has been challenging.
Jane Hartmeier and three other volunteers are caretakers of the cemetery. Hartmeier said the original cemetery dates back to the 1840s and was located outside the Fort Smith city limits.
“The cemetery was situated on the grounds with a little log church and the property was owned by the city of Fort Smith,” Hartmeier said. “After Bishop Byrne made the purchase, the bodies were exhumed and moved to what is now known as Calvary Cemetery. The formal dedication was held in 1855 during the confirmation of 30 people.”
Hartmeier said the cemetery was placed under the care of Immaculate Conception Church because, at the time, it was the only Catholic church in Fort Smith. Funding for maintenance is provided through the sale of plots, which Hartmeier said is never enough because of increased vandalism in the area.
“In the last three years we’ve seen a lot of vandalism,” Hartmeier said. “It seems to happen to the older stones and many of these have no family remaining, or living in the area, to make repairs. We had a gentleman who recently repaired approximately 12 headstones. And we have many more that are in need of repairs. If we lock the gates, it seems to make it worse.”
Hartmeier said they continue to hold an annual cemetery working day and the Men’s Club of Immaculate Conception occasionally donates a weekend for cemetery maintenance.
“The biggest problem, the thing that bothers me the most, is not having the money to fix things and keep it in the shape it should be,” Hartmeier said.

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