Greenleaf Musings: Perpetual Care Isn’t Easy

Written by Freda Day – Greenleaf Cemetery began with only a few acres. It slowly grew as more land was donated or acquired. At this point, Greenleaf is almost a hundred acres. Let’s face it… caring for that takes work.

Until fairly recently, I had no idea what was actually involved, so I want to share with you some of what I have learned.

The obvious thing is mowing. Mowing is not a big deal, of course, except that there are almost a hundred acres, and there are literally thousands of obstacles. Particularly in the older parts of the cemetery, there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to placement of the stones. (I’m sure there was, I just can’t always see it).

Most of these hundred acres also require weed eating. Each of these thousands of stones must be trimmed around.

Many people visiting family and friends who have passed bring flowers or small mementos to leave at the grave site. Many of the graves also have decorations of all sorts that are put there by family. Each of those tokens are from the heart and show that the person who passed was well-loved. The staff and board of Greenleaf love seeing these things, but that doesn’t change the fact that it makes mowing and trimming harder and much more time consuming.

Both the graves and the memorial stones settle and the ground above a grave can sink as it settles. As the staff finds time, they are regularly filling in dips and holes, as they see them.

There are lots of old stones at Greenleaf. A hundred and fifty years can take a toll. Stones break from age and weather.

Greenleaf Cemetery is quite old, and in the early days many graves were marked with wooden or field stone markers, which couldn’t withstand time and weather. Many graves were never marked at all. The locations of all but the oldest graves are recorded in the cemetery office, but some of the older graves are not. There are people that are known to have been buried at Greenleaf, but the location of their graves aren’t known. There are people that are known to be buried in a particular section, but the exact spot isn’t known. There were also graves on that ground before Greenleaf Fisk even donated the land to be used as a cemetery. The bottom line is that the staff has to be certain that the particular plot is unused before a grave is dug, and it isn’t always easy.

The same staff that is mowing and trimming, is also digging graves several times a week.

When everything goes as planned, it takes two people less than an hour to dig and set up for a funeral. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way. A creek runs along the East side of the cemetery, and when we have a downpour, it fills up and creates issues for any burial in that area. Digging in the rain anywhere on the grounds can be a mess. As they dig with the front-end loader, the sides of the grave can be collapsing. In those situations, before the funeral, the staff must use a generator and pump to empty the hole of water. If the ground is rocky, it gets much trickier.

Parts of the cemetery are very tight, with many headstones and foot stones quite close together. In those areas, the only way to get to where the digging must be done is to lift and move the stones that are already in place, and carefully replace them afterwards.

In addition to all of this, the fence line has to be cleared, litter and fallen branches picked up, trees trimmed, equipment maintained, stones repaired, and people assisted in preparing to bury a loved one, or looking for the grave of a loved one. As with most jobs, it’s never ending.

Greenleaf has only two full-time and two-part time groundskeepers to do all of this.

I know most people have things in their jobs that are hard, time-consuming, dirty, or frustrating. I’m not trying to say that cemetery groundskeeper is any worse or harder than any other job. I’m just pointing out that it isn’t just mowing. It’s a hard job that takes skill and dedication.

Kudos to the four staff members keeping Greenleaf Cemetery looking so beautiful. Kudos to Shane Agan, Jeffery Watson, Daniel Graham, and Ralph Cadena. The cemetery looks beautiful!