By Reagan Scott
NEBRASKA CITY (SNR) – While Catholics are called to bury the dead as a corporal work of mercy, the work doesn’t stop following the celebration of a funeral.
Father Thomas Schultes, the pastor at St. Mary Parish in Nebraska City, managed five cemeteries in his previous assignment in Lawrence and Deweese and spoke to some of the challenges involved in maintaining a cemetery, but also suggested ways to help.
Some of the challenges involved in maintaining a cemetery include:
General operations
Day to day cemetery operations include such tasks as meeting with families to discuss funeral arrangements, selling lots, ensuring correct placement of headstones and enforcing cemetery regulations.
Record keeping
Integral to both the future and history of a cemetery, record keeping involves tracking lots sold for future burials, and recording who is buried and where they are buried.
Not all parish cemeteries have digital records. Father Schultes said it took seminarians two summers to digitize records for St. Mary Cemetery in Nebraska City. Today, all graves at that cemetery can be found on the parish website.
Upkeep
Upkeep involves all those tasks necessary for maintaining the cemetery grounds. These tasks include ensuring that the grass is mowed, trees and bushes are pruned, limbs are cleared, headstones remain in good repair and infrastructure like roads and fences are maintained.
Finances
Financing parish cemeteries involves maximizing assets for the continued upkeep of the cemetery. It is important that there are funds available for both day to day operation and larger, more infrequent expenses.
Father Schultes shared some of the ways that people can help:
Maintain family plot
While volunteers or paid crews may mow the cemetery, family members are also encouraged to help keep their family plots in order, ensuring that headstones remain in good condition and, in cemeteries that may not see as much groundskeeping, taking care of overgrowth that may creep up around plots.
Respect cemetery regulations
Cemeteries have rules and regulations in place to ensure that maintaining the cemetery remains feasible for those who volunteer or work there. Visitors should follow cemetery guidance pertaining to decorations. Father Schultes said that while people love their ancestors and want to honor them, they should also take care to keep any decorations from getting in the way of groundskeepers where they may impede upkeep or pose a safety risk.
Supporting the cemetery financially
Monetary gifts, donated supplies, endowments and funds earmarked for cemetery care are just a few of the ways individuals can support cemeteries financially. This helps them remain a place loved ones can visit and remember their relatives, even if they are no longer members of the parish the cemetery is associated with.
“Most parishes outside Lincoln have a cemetery, and it affects the cemetery when people move,” Father Schultes said. “The cemetery is always going to be there, even if the parish is not.”
Volunteering
Help with weekly mowing and trimming if there is a need.
Consider helping out during cemetery work days if held. These days allow people to come together to tackle those projects that regular volunteers or grounds crews may not be able to get to, like trimming trees or painting fences.
Serve on a parish cemetery board if there is one. The board for St. Mary Cemetery in Nebraska City discusses such issues as lot pricing, regulations, bids for fixes to headstones and annual work days.
Communicating with the pastor or sexton
Consider asking the parish priest or cemetery sexton about needs for the cemetery. They may be able to suggest ways to help. Visitors should also inform the pastor or sexton of any disrepair that may pose a hazard to grounds crews or cemetery visitors.
Pray for the dead
Perhaps the most important, “Pray for the deceased, don’t forget about them,” Father Schultes said.
