 |
| Negra Cemetery, Torrance County, NM |
In March of 2001, my best friend Danielle Sengel and I decided to walk and record the beautiful Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Albuquerque. It was so pleasant meeting in the mornings and plotting out the cemetery. We quickly wrote down every stone in that cemetery. And the people in the office at the cemetery were so gracious to us with their time and information that we felt we had done something well worth while. A special 'hats off' to Rosina (manager) and Reno (ground crew) for their help and education.
But when we were finished, I knew there was more - you know "the rest of the story" or sequels. We had several other cemeteries in the city and I just had to do them too! The next one I wanted to work on was Mount Calvary, sister cemetery of Gate of Heaven. It was also one of the Santa Fe Catholic Archdiocese cemeteries but much older than Gate of Heaven. I was eager to begin....Danielle wasn't so sure. Just about that time, the Albuquerque Journal newspaper contacted me and wanted to do a story on what I was trying to accomplish. When the reporter talked with me, he suggested getting other people involved and forming a group.
I did have another life besides being in a cemetery every day so I decided to go ahead and try to get a group together. Little did I know that there are MANY people very interested in being in cemeteries! From the newspaper article I got many phone calls about the work, eagerly volunteering to join me! In August I started putting together a group and set the first training session for September 12, 2001. But on September 11, every American's heart was broken and our earth moved beneath us. I questioned going on with this project, but a very kind lady called me and said she wanted to come anyway! So on September 13 I held the first training session at a local library. I think 12 people came to it, all eager to make a difference somehow in this crazy world.
Two weeks later I had another training session and another 15 people came to it. It was at this session that Betty Lamberti came into my life. She has stuck with this group from day one. Dedicated and a hard worker! By the first of October, a committed and trained group of 20 people were ready to write their hearts out. Our first meeting was at Mt. Calvary and we all worked through the various problems we encountered both on the grounds and tombstones. Oh, so many different ways to write a tombstone! Another big thank you to the office staff of Mt. Calvary, especially Mr. Baca and Anna Cantwell who gave us tremendous support.
It was right after this first group meeting that a gentleman called me and said he had been out of town and couldn't make either of the training sessions. Would it be possible for him to still join us? This is how I came to know Al "Wink" Winkeljohn. I don't know if we would be as far along as we are today without Wink. Since 2006 he has almost single handed found over 800 cemeteries in the state. He has patiently located them, verified them, wrote directions and got GPS listings for them. And he has another life too!
Through the years, we have walked most of the cemeteries in Albuquerque (Gate of Heaven, Mt. Calvary, Fairview, Sunset, Sanchez/Romero, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Alameda/San Carlos, San Francisco, San Jose de Armijo, Los Padillas, Pajarito, Sandia Memory Gardens. We've branched out to Torrance, Santa Fe, Sandoval and Socorro counties.
In the Sandia Mountain area, we walked Carnuel/Santo Nino Cemetery, San Antonito, San Antonio de Padua, Golden, Tijeras, Saint Francis of Assisi at Golden. Another of my very early volunteers was Sally Goehring. She and Wink walked Chilil/St John Nepomunceno Cemetery, Canoncito, Cerro/Cedro, and Juan Tomas.
This group has never had any funding nor outside support and we are not a 501c(3) organization. A few of my volunteers travel around the state and they kindly look out for cemeteries. Many take pictures or verify the location of these far out sites. But it is Wink who travels great miles, without being paid, just to find and verify a cemetery. Last week he and his sister traveled to Dixon to find four cemeteries that had eluded us over the years. Now we have pictures, GPS, names of the cemeteries and a feeling of accomplishment. I try to find cemeteries in Quay and McKinley county. Anyone who knows this state knows how deserted and barren it is. Most of the states cemeteries are on lonely dirt roads, miles from civilization, hot and dusty. But truthfully, whenever Wink or Rich and I are travelling up/down a highway, our minds are always thinking, "what cemetery is near here - I need to stop there!"
Through ten years of joy, hard work, friendships, trials, supportive friends and love, I take my hat off to these volunteers:
Danielle Sengel, Sally Goehring, Anne Hayward, Linda Hobart, Robin Hoffman, Herb and Sharon Palm, Sue Greene, Karen Twohig, Carolyn McMillan, Linda Ingram, Linda Sprague, Shirley Ash, Anthony Lohr-Valdez, Ruth Apodaca, Veronica Mercer, Connie Sirman, Betty Jo Minshall. Whether you were with us for 3 months or a year, thank you.
And to my dearest friends that have been with me for years, a huge bow, salute and heart-felt thanks to:
Al "Wink" Winkeljohn, Betty Lamberti, Gloria Henderson, Barb Borowy, Diane Bloom, Sharon Serrano, Marion "Lee" Miller. You all have a special place of honor in heaven and history. And a special thanks and hug to my husband who joined us in 2008 after he retired. Rich has always supported me and this group. Now he knows just what we've been up to all these years!
New Mexico Tombstone hours worked:
(I did not keep hours for the first 2 years, but we wrote over 10,000 graves)
2003 - 460 hours
2004 - 507 hours
2005 - 655 hours
2006 - 527 hours
2007 - 303 hours
2008 - 459 hours
2009 - 418 hours
2010 - 442 hours
2011 (so far) - 320 hours
We have found and verified 1,832 cemeteries in 33 counties, and have approximately 238,000 individual graves logged. And we are no where near the end! So many books, records, death certificates, obituaries yet to write!!
 |
| Encino Cemetery, Torrance County, NM |
No comments:
Post a Comment