Monumental repairs

By: 
Lisa Ingebrand, LifeEnterprise

Two freshly cleaned and refurbished, white gravestones belonging to veterans now stand, repaired and vivid white. (Lisa Ingebrand photo)

Some of Sakatah Cemetery’s oldest grave makers have been repaired, thanks to generous donors

Twenty-two dilapidated grave markers in Waterville’s Sakatah Cemetery were repaired over the summer months.

A few of the refurbished monuments date back to the 1800s. Almost all of them are located in the cemetery’s oldest, southern section.

“Although the maintenance of the headstones is the responsibility of the owner or the family, this section contains many headstones that belong to people who no longer have family to do this,” explained Sakatah Cemetery Board member Dean Thrun. “The monuments chosen were those in most need of repair.”

Last winter, the cemetery board decided to have the monuments repaired to maintain the integrity of the cemetery and began fundraising.

Thrun, and his wife, Darlene, dove into family histories of the deceased, trying to locate living family members whose gravesites had been selected for restoration. Letters were mailed to distant family members, individualswho own plots, and those who have loved ones interred in the 11-acre cemetery. More than $8,000 was raised.

To see more on this story pick up the October 1, 2020 print edition of the LifeEnterprise paper. 

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