FAYETTEVILLE — St. Joseph Cemetery is not an abandoned graveyard but it has become a neglected one, and parishioners are determined to make it beautiful again.
“The cemetery has grown,” said Rita Ferrell, whose family moved from Philadelphia to Fayetteville in 1950 and who has seen the remarkable changes in the size of the community and the parish since then. “However, people today don’t volunteer (for the cemetery upkeep),” she continued. “Young people don’t seem to want to volunteer.”
Her husband, Bill, died more than 30 years ago and is buried at St. Joseph as is a tiny daughter the couple lost shortly after moving to the area. Elizabeth, as she was named, lies in an unmarked grave, unknown to anyone but her mother, Ferrell said.
She said she believes the cemetery needs to be properly maintained and it’s the job of younger people to pitch in and take care of those needs.
At 93, Ferrell said she’s unable to help out any more and she’s had little luck persuading any of her three sons to pitch in with rakes or trimmers. “They always have an excuse.” She’s found similar sentiments among other younger people and she doesn’t seem to like it.
“You owe it to these people who are planted here. I’ll do my share of telling these younger people they need to get out there with a shovel or a rake.”
That may be happening more often with a concerted effort within the parish to reclaim the cemetery from brush and weeds along the fence rows, to establish policies concerning grave decorations and to build an Angels’ Garden for people who have lost children or anyone who needs a place for quiet reflection and prayer.
“I go by (the cemetery) every single day,” said Romaine Kobilsek, a parishioner who lives in the neighborhood near the cemetery, which is off of Highway 45 on the city’s east side. Kobilsek knew several families in the parish who had lost children in recent years and she realized the cemetery had no place set aside for them.
She brought the idea of an Angels’ Garden to the parish Women’s Fellowship. “Could we do some kind of garden? A place for families to rest, reflect and pray?” Kobilsek explained.
The women’s group agreed to set aside a share of its fundraising monies for the project, and volunteers set to work meeting with landscape architects for ideas about how to build the garden. “We wanted to try to make it a place not only for parents of these children but also a reflective, contemplative prayer garden” open to anyone, she said.
Kobilsek met with the parish cemetery committee to champion the idea of a garden, but it quickly became apparent that other things needed to be addressed first, she said.
“People said the cemetery was in a state of disrepair,” she said.
Some graves are so old, it’s not easy to tell where they’re located or who might be buried there, Kobilsek said. Some of the acreage needs to be leveled and the grave markers repaired or cleaned and the grounds need to be made easier for mowing.
Mass on All Souls Day is traditionally held at the cemetery, and Kobilsek said she was hoping this year, worshippers would notice how much better the grounds look after a workday or two by volunteers. Next spring, she hopes the Angels’ Garden will begin in earnest.
In the meantime, Ferrell is still planning to help in the best way she can, along with help from some of the friends with whom she prays the rosary. “I’ll pray that this (cleanup effort) goes over.”
