When the Morris School for Boys in Searcy closed in 1993, it was the end of an era for Catholics in White County.
The Franciscan brothers who ran the school continued living at St. Anthony Friary, praying and taking care of the grounds. When the 200-acre campus was sold in 2000, many people considered that chapter of Catholicism in Searcy to be over.
But one piece of the puzzle remained, and the parameters around it were fuzzy — St. Paul Cemetery.
The cemetery is the eternal resting place of 11 Franciscan brothers and notable Catholic community members. But without the devotion of the Franciscan brothers who once tended to the cemetery, it became uncertain who would care for it and when. Initially, local residents Ken and Mary Cook cared for the cemetery, but as they grew older and passed away, the cemetery began to fall into disrepair.
Father Nelson Rubio, pastor of St. James Church in Searcy and St. Richard Church in Bald Knob, arrived in Searcy in the summer of 2022. He noticed the cemetery was neglected and began encouraging the parishes — both of which use St. Paul Cemetery — to do what they could to tidy it in their spare time.
“Even though it’s a little cemetery, we want to take care of it and leave it in a good way,” Father Rubio said. “And then the people outside can see it’s a beautiful cemetery, and it’s part of the Catholic Church.”
Several parishioners rose to the challenge. Steve Fuller, a Knight of Columbus in Searcy, became aware of the state of the cemetery when preparing for a funeral.
“For a long time, nobody was really taking care of it,” he said. “The grass was really tall. Three years ago, there was going to be a funeral out there, so the Knights of Columbus went out and cut the grass and cleaned it up.”
For Fuller and many parishioners at St. James, the cemetery holds significant meaning.
“There’s a bunch of brothers that used to be at Morris School and a priest and, I think, a nun buried there,” Fuller said. “And you couldn’t even see half their tombstones. They were just totally covered up with grass. So we got all that cleaned up, and after that, I took over going out there every week and cutting the grass and making sure it was kept cut. … We found that the oldest two tombstones there were marked from 1927.”
But soon, parishioners at St. James and the Knights of Columbus would do more than cut grass.
“And then in the last year, my wife Bonnie decided she wanted to repaint all the statues and get them all cleaned up and redone, so that’s just what we did,” Fuller said.
Fuller and several others began removing plaques and signs from the cemetery, along with the large crucifix, to assess their state and begin repairs.
“(The crucifix and Christ) were in bad shape, so we took it down and cleaned it,” Fuller said. “It was warped where the weather had heated it up because it’s concrete and plaster. We repaired it in the spots that needed to be repaired and then repainted the cross and put it all back together.”
Fuller does what he can with whatever free time he has, with the majority of the beautification work taking place during the summers.
“We’ve spent the biggest part of every Saturday or Sunday afternoon out there for most of the summer, when the weather was permitting, cleaning,” he said. “Some of the stuff we actually took home and redid, like under where the crucifix is at in that altar. There’s a little statue of Mary, and we took that home, and my wife repainted it. And then when we took Jesus off the cross, I took him home and … brought him back along with the signs and different things.”
Fuller has been joined in the beautification efforts not just by Bonnie but also by St. James parishioners Jim Palmer and Dennis Horan, who is the grand knight at the St. James council of the Knights of Columbus.
Fuller said Horan and several parishioners help pick up trash and tree limbs in the cemetery and keep an eye on the property.
“Steve takes care of mowing and keeping up with the landscaping of the place and stuff like that,” Horan said. “Bonnie has a creative touch — she’s the arts and crafts type.”
Horan really got involved when the time came to disassemble the crucifix in the cemetery.
“This whole thing sits up maybe 12 feet, and it was looking old and ragged,” he said. “And Jesus was pretty heavy and bolted in, so they needed some help. … We got Jesus down, and Steve and Bonnie got him over to their house, and they worked on him and cleaned him up. In the meantime, Steve came back and painted the cross itself. It took a few weeks.”
Horan said Bonnie’s artistry skills came into play when repairing a large St. Francis statue in the cemetery.
“There was one large statue of St. Francis, and it is probably 7, 8-feet tall and pretty big around,” he said. “The whole thing weighs probably 2,000 to 3,000 pounds. At one time, a tree that grew behind it had blown down and knocked it over. Luckily, it didn’t damage it a lot. It took somebody with a big tractor to come and lift it so they could get it back in place.
“St. Francis has a big set of rosary beads around his waist and going down, and a couple of the beads had gotten damaged when it fell over. So Bonnie meticulously took concrete repair and molded them all back, and they painted it white. … They’ve dedicated themselves to taking care of the cemetery and, in the process, to work on the statues and clean them up and get them painted.”
Father Rubio said parishioners are looking ahead to plan the next repair steps.
“We are done with the statues and cleaning everything. I think the next step is to talk with the diocese’s Building Committee … We need to build up a new fence around the cemetery.”
But spending time in the cemetery helped Fuller in his faith life more than he could have initially imagined when he set out to clean. Caring for the cemetery gave him a peaceful and meditative space while also helping him honor the history of his faith and community.
“It’s part of our history,” he said. “What really got me started on wanting to do it was the fact that all of the brothers were there … And I had known some of the brothers over the years. They gave their life to God and Jesus, so somebody needs to take care of this. And that was my outlook on it — that I wasn’t going to let the grass grow over it. …
“I just enjoy going out there and cutting the grass. And it’s just something I feel like I need to do for the church. … I’m pretty busy with my business, and I don’t get a lot of time to do a whole lot of stuff at the church. But that’s the one thing I can do — go on the weekend and do that.”
Horan agreed.
“It’s out on an old farm road, so it’s pretty quiet. … There’s a hereafter, and we’re told we have a better life coming. … I just feel like it’s important to maintain that cemetery because of the people that are there, the history of them, even if you didn’t know them. Everybody has a story. So even though you don’t always get to hear it, there were a lot of things that person did or could have done or was involved in. And if they dedicated themselves enough to make it to that point, then it just behooves us to try to keep it nice looking for them until it’s no longer needed.”
