Apr 14, 2019 2 min read

Better care needed to preserve cemetery’s history

Has anyone taken notice of the condition of the graves in the old Immaculate Conception Church Cemetery on Locust Avenue in South Strabane Township? I drive past the cemetery at least two or three times a week. More and more of the tombstones are being broken, lie there a while, and then disappear, apparently disposed of by whomever is cutting the grass.

If you stop or call Immaculate Conception Church, you are told that the church no longer cares for the cemetery and are directed to the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The diocese says that the care of cemeteries has been turned over to a separate group because of a lack of funding. You are given a number to call, and when you call to voice your concerns, you are told that old tombstones break and fall apart, and there is no money to replace or repair them.

Be around the cemetery when the grass is being cut: The cemetery was not laid out to accommodate large mowers that can damage tombstones when bumped by them.

If accurate records have not been kept as to who is buried in the cemetery, and the only record is the tombstones that are being broken and disappearing, then the records of the early founders of the Catholic faith in Washington are disappearing.

Imagine if you live out of state and come back to the area to find your family roots and see how badly the graves of your ancestors are being treated. I wonder how many other cemeteries in the diocese are being treated this way.

Kenneth E. Britten

President of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Genealogical Society