Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007
To Jim Cox Jr., the stories of those buried at Park Heights Cemetery in Brunswick are often humorous, tragic and heartbreaking, all at the same time.
Cox walked along the winding drive of the cemetery, past large, detailed headstones and plain, flat grave markers as the sun dipped below the horizon Saturday. Flickering white candles sheltered in wind-resistant cups dotted the hilly, green landscape of the cemetery.
‘‘It’s amazing what kind of stories are in here,” Cox said.
Cox and several residents comprise Park Heights Cemetery Inc., a nonprofit organization in charge of operating and restoring the 97 year-old cemetery.
The memory of more than 2,000 Brunswick residents buried at Park Heights — including military veterans, victims of the influenza epidemic of 1918, brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents — were honored Saturday during the cemetery’s second luminary display.
In less than two hours, volunteers placed and lighted hundreds of candles at gravestones and on top of the cemetery’s front walls. John T. Williams Funeral Home in Brunswick donated the candles.
Two years ago, the volunteers of Park Heights Cemetery Inc., could not clearly see many of the headstones, nor did they have updated plot records and maps.
The cemetery had fallen in disrepair since the 1980s and tall grasses and weeds obscured most of the 10-acre property. Many families continued to mow their individual plots although they had paid for basic maintenance. Cox said his parents and members of his wife’s family are buried in Park Heights Cemetery. Jacquelyn Ebersole, a board member of Park Heights, said her husband’s family also paid for the care for their plots to no avail.
Since taking over the operation and care of the cemetery in 2005, Park Heights Cemetery Inc. has compiled a database of gravesite information and redrawn and measured plots three times, Cox said.
‘‘We’ve got [Park Heights] back to where it’s credible and people trust us,” Cox said.
The members of Park Heights Cemetery Inc. are unpaid, Cox said, and 40 percent of each lot sale is invested in a perpetual care fund that keeps the lawn and plots manicured.
Earlier this year the nonprofit donated a burial site in Park Heights for the cremated remains of 45 year-old Carole Ann Gordon, a former resident of Jefferson and Brunswick. Gordon was homeless when police found her dead on East South Street in Frederick in June.
The group is also in the process of uncovering the identity of about 250 unmarked graves using historical records and old-fashioned detective work, Cox noted.
Several volunteers also found the cemetery’s original front gates that were discarded in the nearby woods, Cox said. The nonprofit restored the gates, which visitors see upon entering the cemetery from H Street.
During the four-hour luminary display, the light from the candles against the large headstones was enough for residents to drive around the cemetery’s road without headlights.
Dorothy Decker and her daughter, Sissy, drove slowly around the curvy driveway and said it was their second time seeing the luminary display.
Dorothy Decker said her mother, brother and sister-in-law are buried at Park Heights and remarked on the improvements made by volunteers.
‘‘They worked miracles in the cemetery,” she said. ‘‘It’s really beautiful when you haven’t seen anything like this.”
Contact Floyd Goetz of of Park Heights Cemetery Inc. at 301-834-9578.
