By Theresa Machemer. Construction of a road in southeast Poland has unearthed a centuries-old cemetery containing the remains of more than 100 children. As Stuart Dowell reports for Polish media outlet the First News, archaeologists from Arkadia Firma Archeologiczna excavated the area following construction workers’ discovery of human remains. Between 70 and 80 percent of […]
Read more
It’s a Good Thing: The cemetery industry sees a major plot twist
By Matt O’Grady. Growing up in West Van, a teenaged Erik Lees pined for only one thing: “It was the late 1960s, man. I just wanted to go back to the land—to check out of the city.” He soon achieved that dream, moving to Nelson—the epicentre of B.C.’s counterculture movement—to launch a career as a […]
Read more
Cemetery in Iowa vandalized, 50 headstones knocked over
By Amanda Jackson. Staff at an Iowa cemetery met an unimaginable scene as they arrived to work on Tuesday morning. The usually serene grounds of the historic Elmwood Cemetery in Waterloo were now a crime scene after dozens of headstones were found toppled over, and some destroyed. “I was just sick to my stomach,” Mike […]
Read more
Unfurling the flags: Volunteers adorn cemetery for July 4 weekend
By Jill Harmacinski. LAWRENCE — Volunteers answered the call to place hundreds of flags on veterans’ graves for the upcoming July 4 weekend. Those helping included more than two dozen police officers from Lawrence and several from Methuen. They met at Bellevue Cemetery on Wednesday morning and fanned out, putting flags on graves. Lawrence Veterans […]
Read more
Arlington National Cemetery loosens some restrictions on military funerals
By Nikki Wentling. WASHINGTON – More people will be allowed to attend funerals at Arlington National Cemetery starting Monday as the site moves to the next step of its phased reopening. Up to 50 people will be allowed at gravesites during military funerals, up from the 10-person limit that went into effect in March. The […]
Read more
Coronavirus Through Cemetery Worker’s Eyes: ‘It Takes A Toll’
By Lisa Finn. CENTER MORICHES, NY — For Steve Scerri, who runs the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Center Moriches, the new coronavirus has changed life in ways that are almost impossible to voice. “It’s depressing, definitely,” Scerri said. Scerri has done his job diligently for 37 years, but he hasn’t experienced something like the coronavirus, […]
Read more
NSA claims 145-year-old Fort Meade cemetery to build cyber defense building after it moves remains
By Selene San Felice. The Downs family saw their land become a military base during World War I. Now, their family cemetery is about to become a cyber defense building. Last week, a Maryland District Court judge granted the federal government the right to possess the 418-square-foot Downs Cemetery on the grounds of Fort George […]
Read more
Burials without funerals, grief without hugs: Coronavirus is changing how we say goodbye
By Peter D. Kramer. Maggie Farley wants to remember the way her father lived – the Denver probate lawyer’s sense of humor, integrity and decades fighting for affordable housing – not how he died of COVID-19 with no family permitted at his hospital bedside. “I don’t feel like he died with regrets and I don’t […]
Read more
Paris Cemetery Nearing Full Capacity Due to Coronavirus: ‘There Are More Deaths Than We Can Bury’
By Shachar Peled. PARIS – Deaths from the coronavirus are mounting in France and the Thiais cemetery on the outskirts of Paris is almost out of space. “In normal times we fill one row of graves per year,” says mortician Avraham Weinberg. “Now we are burying a row and a half every week.” On Monday, […]
Read more
Coronavirus overwhelms New York’s mortuary system
By Matthew Chayes. So many people are dying from coronavirus in the metropolitan area that each link in the mortuary system is overwhelmed: morgues, hospitals, funeral homes, cemeteries, crematoria, even transportation between these places. “There’s people dying all over the place,” said Dan Moloney, co-owner of Lake Ronkonkoma-based Moloney Family Funeral Homes. “We’ve never seen […]
Read more
