Wisconsin Cemetery Service alliance™
knowledge center
visit your cemetery
Cemeteries
Etiquette
Headstones
Headstone Cleaning
Cemeteries
Cemeteries *
Cemeteries in North America go back to the beginning settling of America, and before by Native Americans.
So, is it Cemetery or Graveyard?
Cemetery is where human remains of the dead are buried or interred by public authority, private persons, or families on private owned areas of land. Cemeteries governed by established state laws, different in nature, and specifically apply to cemeteries, not the same laws of real property or corporations. Cemeteries governed by a Board of Trustees or Association have an assigned overall responsibility of the administration and operation of the estate of graves. A "Cemeterian," a person who works in, owns or operates a cemetery or memorial park.
*Point Of Contact: The cemetery Director is who you would contact for permission/permit to work in a cemetery. If not posted, contact the township/city clerk office to contact the property holder or management.
Graveyard is a burial ground within a religious churchyard and follow church and state rules. Governed by the church diocese and administration by administer or director.
*Point Of Contact: The church pastor is who you would contact to work in a graveyard, who would contact the sexton or groundsmen.
Cemeteries in North America go back to the beginning settling of America, and before by Native Americans.
So, is it Cemetery or Graveyard?
Cemetery is where human remains of the dead are buried or interred by public authority, private persons, or families on private owned areas of land. Cemeteries governed by established state laws, different in nature, and specifically apply to cemeteries, not the same laws of real property or corporations. Cemeteries governed by a Board of Trustees or Association have an assigned overall responsibility of the administration and operation of the estate of graves. A "Cemeterian," a person who works in, owns or operates a cemetery or memorial park.
*Point Of Contact: The cemetery Director is who you would contact for permission/permit to work in a cemetery. If not posted, contact the township/city clerk office to contact the property holder or management.
Graveyard is a burial ground within a religious churchyard and follow church and state rules. Governed by the church diocese and administration by administer or director.
*Point Of Contact: The church pastor is who you would contact to work in a graveyard, who would contact the sexton or groundsmen.
Etiquette
Etiquette *
When visiting or working in cemeteries, please show respect for the living and the dead. Following some of the basic rules regarding cemetery etiquette will make for a much more enjoyable experience.
When visiting or working in cemeteries, please show respect for the living and the dead. Following some of the basic rules regarding cemetery etiquette will make for a much more enjoyable experience.
- Before starting any work in cemetery, get permission from the director, sexton or caretaker.
- Follow the rules posted on signpost located at the entrance
- Follow dawn until dusk rules, closed after dark unless posted otherwise
- Cemeteries are NOT playgrounds for kids or pets, show them how to respect your cemetery
- When working or visiting, do not hang jackets, set tools on, sit, lean, or touch any headstones, markers, or monuments.
- Please don't leave any trash or dirt behind, pick it up ensure your work area looks nice.
- Report to Cemetery Director/Caretaker/Sexton any hazards or problems.
- Never visit in areas when funerals are occurring, come back when a funeral is finished.
- No pets running loose, keep them on a leash, or in a kennel.
- And PLEASE report any damage, vandalism, or theft to the Caretaker, Director, or Police.
Headstones
Headstones or Markers *
Give this some thought!
Large Headstones are usually perched from cemetery monument dealers, a tradition. Most cemetery associations do require using a Professional Monument Dealer, for good reasons, but there are better and less expense of ways to mark a grave, so ask your dealer.
If the burial is going to be in a public cemetery or church graveyard you will have to have permission to make any changes to the rules. But traditions, rules or customs do change, so monument dealers is the best place to get professional help.
Do some research on the Internet, Pinterest.com for some ideas that you and family may like.
But Do go to your local Monument Dealer for some professional help.
Best materials for gravestones today would be a durable material like granite or bronze; also stainless steel is becoming quite popular. Granite is affordable and hard, also heavy making it hard to steal. Also, granite makes for an excellent foundation for any headstone or monument to place your engraved granite headstone on rather than concrete. Granite should be installed with a good substrate to keep it from heaving.
Wisconsin Cemetery Services policy is not to repair old sandstone headstones that may have fallen into desuetude in cemeteries. We know to no good way to repair old Sandstone headstone because its material sediment, mainly of sand or rock grains of quartz or feldspar and is very fragile and can not be nicely repaired, we feel any repair of sandstone would not be a respectful way to honor the loved one, family or cemetery.
We encourage replacing a broken headstone with a new marker easily obtained from local monument dealer that is safe for outdoor use. A granite monument dealer can easily engrave an epitaph for you.Headstones or Markers
Give this some thought!
Large Headstones are usually perched from cemetery monument dealers, a tradition. Most cemetery associations do require using a Professional Monument Dealer, for good reasons, but there are better and less expense of ways to mark a grave, so ask your dealer.
If the burial is going to be in a public cemetery or church graveyard you will have to have permission to make any changes to the rules. But traditions, rules or customs do change, so monument dealers is the best place to get professional help.
Do some research on the Internet, Pinterest.com for some ideas that you and family may like.
But Do go to your local Monument Dealer for some professional help.
Best materials for gravestones today would be a durable material like granite or bronze; also stainless steel is becoming quite popular. Granite is affordable and hard, also heavy making it hard to steal. Also, granite makes for an excellent foundation for any headstone or monument to place your engraved granite headstone on rather than concrete. Granite should be installed with a good substrate to keep it from heaving.
Wisconsin Cemetery Services policy is not to repair old sandstone headstones that may have fallen into desuetude in cemeteries. We know to no good way to repair old Sandstone headstone because its material sediment, mainly of sand or rock grains of quartz or feldspar and is very fragile and can not be nicely repaired, we feel any repair of sandstone would not be a respectful way to honor the loved one, family or cemetery.
We encourage replacing a broken headstone with a new marker easily obtained from local monument dealer that is safe for outdoor use. A granite monument dealer can easily engrave an epitaph for you.Headstones or Markers
Headstone Cleaning
Headstone Cleaning *
Do Not Clean Your Headstone, without the appropriate equipment and cleaner. Often household cleaners will not work; they do more damage !
NEVER BLEACH !!
If not carefully researched, an attempt to clean a gravestone will result in more damage. Also, you will need permission from the cemetery to do any work. But if you would like to do your own cleaning. Ask for help we will help you or show you :-)
BLACK MOLD
Yes, bleach can kill black mold. Although mold grows on moist surfaces, you can use bleach to destroy it growing on hard surfaces. It would be best if you did not use bleach to kill mold that grows on permeable or porous surfaces. This is because mold on absorbent materials spread their roots deep. When you use bleach to kill them, you will only be wiping it from the surfaces. This means that it will re-emerge after a short while.
We find what works best in our business when cleaning many cemetery headstones and markers over the years is D/2 (Biological Solution) but requires some contact scrubbing and rinsing equipment to see a promptly marked difference that will destroy the spores or roots of the mold, keeping it from coming back.
We recommend most plot owners use a less aggressive method using Wet&Forget, available at most stores, for an extremely easy and quick procedure that will also, over time, will weather the mold away.
Clause: Because of the uneven surface and texture, ceramic or engraved pictures and custom artwork available on monuments and headstones; the bio cleaning, removing of stains, mold, fungus, mildew, lichens, and air pollutants from cemetery monuments/headstones will require further removal by the biological nature over time.
Typically Black Mold (Stachybotrys chartarum) can take up to a year in nature to disappear from the surface.
Do Not Clean Your Headstone, without the appropriate equipment and cleaner. Often household cleaners will not work; they do more damage !
NEVER BLEACH !!
If not carefully researched, an attempt to clean a gravestone will result in more damage. Also, you will need permission from the cemetery to do any work. But if you would like to do your own cleaning. Ask for help we will help you or show you :-)
BLACK MOLD
Yes, bleach can kill black mold. Although mold grows on moist surfaces, you can use bleach to destroy it growing on hard surfaces. It would be best if you did not use bleach to kill mold that grows on permeable or porous surfaces. This is because mold on absorbent materials spread their roots deep. When you use bleach to kill them, you will only be wiping it from the surfaces. This means that it will re-emerge after a short while.
We find what works best in our business when cleaning many cemetery headstones and markers over the years is D/2 (Biological Solution) but requires some contact scrubbing and rinsing equipment to see a promptly marked difference that will destroy the spores or roots of the mold, keeping it from coming back.
We recommend most plot owners use a less aggressive method using Wet&Forget, available at most stores, for an extremely easy and quick procedure that will also, over time, will weather the mold away.
Clause: Because of the uneven surface and texture, ceramic or engraved pictures and custom artwork available on monuments and headstones; the bio cleaning, removing of stains, mold, fungus, mildew, lichens, and air pollutants from cemetery monuments/headstones will require further removal by the biological nature over time.
Typically Black Mold (Stachybotrys chartarum) can take up to a year in nature to disappear from the surface.
FOR REFERENCE ONLY
cemetery freethought
Cemetery Burials
Static Memorials & Markers
World Wide Web Memorials
Cemetery Burials
Why Cemetery Burials and Memorials
A cemetery is a place of Peace, Remembrance, and a historic resource of the past.
The importance of cemeteries, markers, headstones, or monuments is to provide the address of those remembered loved one's final home not to be forgotten. A place of respect that provides a serene environment to speak to, place flowers or flags in time if needed.
The end of life of a significant other does not end the relationship; the relationship does continue in the living, it happened, your bond continues and remembers by thought, actions, photographs, and mementos in maintaining a memorial, the tie while accepting that the person is dead.
I still remember when in early grade school, my friend Jack Nolen who was killed by a car when he was crossing the country road to get the mail from the mailbox, did this every day after school. When he never showed up at school the next day, the teacher announced to the class what happened. It hit me hard on the inside; it was my first encounter with that kind of loss. But today, over 70 years later, he is remembered. Whenever I see an artist drawing or painting, I have the fond and happy remembrance of Jack; this was in the late 1940s. I can remember my grandparents, my Mom, Dad, and dad's brother, who died at birth even though I only knew his name.
So even the old burial sites and cemeteries of those memorials hold tremendous meanings for folks long past in our life but can also be an anchor to us. That same anchor works for families and friends not yet born, even if all you know is the name, to fill in the missing piece of who we are and why. That cemeteries sustain essential, largely unacknowledged functions of personal family and community life.
The importance of these meanings gives support to making good future policies for cemeteries and memorials and to caution against blanket policies of grave re-use and a case made for new constituencies of visitors to enlist to support our cemeteries.
Green Burials, Conservation Burials, or Nature Cemeteries give a good reason that supports ecological restoration plus can help finance public open space and preservice lands. The natural burial is hardly a new or innovative concept. People have been buried this way for centuries before the use of formaldehyde and other preservatives pumped into bodies, and the use of caskets made with copper, led, zinc and iron. Even the cremations process releases carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and heavy metals into the atmosphere, and the ashes do nothing to improve the soil.
Conservation burials offer a new opportunity to use old practices to promote rural conservation and urban open space. More than just returning nutrients to the land, but to conserve soil and create free space to provide habitat for wildlife, and have potentially high levels of biotic diversity, especially in urban areas. Even small burial grounds contribute to biotic diversity. Conservation burial prices, in general, are lower than conventional burials where biodegradable caskets are in use. The burial fees go to the conservation of the burial grounds. Conservation burial has the potential to reduce the impact of landfills on the environment, and reconnect people with nature and finance public open space.
A cemetery is a place of Peace, Remembrance, and a historic resource of the past.
The importance of cemeteries, markers, headstones, or monuments is to provide the address of those remembered loved one's final home not to be forgotten. A place of respect that provides a serene environment to speak to, place flowers or flags in time if needed.
The end of life of a significant other does not end the relationship; the relationship does continue in the living, it happened, your bond continues and remembers by thought, actions, photographs, and mementos in maintaining a memorial, the tie while accepting that the person is dead.
I still remember when in early grade school, my friend Jack Nolen who was killed by a car when he was crossing the country road to get the mail from the mailbox, did this every day after school. When he never showed up at school the next day, the teacher announced to the class what happened. It hit me hard on the inside; it was my first encounter with that kind of loss. But today, over 70 years later, he is remembered. Whenever I see an artist drawing or painting, I have the fond and happy remembrance of Jack; this was in the late 1940s. I can remember my grandparents, my Mom, Dad, and dad's brother, who died at birth even though I only knew his name.
So even the old burial sites and cemeteries of those memorials hold tremendous meanings for folks long past in our life but can also be an anchor to us. That same anchor works for families and friends not yet born, even if all you know is the name, to fill in the missing piece of who we are and why. That cemeteries sustain essential, largely unacknowledged functions of personal family and community life.
The importance of these meanings gives support to making good future policies for cemeteries and memorials and to caution against blanket policies of grave re-use and a case made for new constituencies of visitors to enlist to support our cemeteries.
Green Burials, Conservation Burials, or Nature Cemeteries give a good reason that supports ecological restoration plus can help finance public open space and preservice lands. The natural burial is hardly a new or innovative concept. People have been buried this way for centuries before the use of formaldehyde and other preservatives pumped into bodies, and the use of caskets made with copper, led, zinc and iron. Even the cremations process releases carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and heavy metals into the atmosphere, and the ashes do nothing to improve the soil.
Conservation burials offer a new opportunity to use old practices to promote rural conservation and urban open space. More than just returning nutrients to the land, but to conserve soil and create free space to provide habitat for wildlife, and have potentially high levels of biotic diversity, especially in urban areas. Even small burial grounds contribute to biotic diversity. Conservation burial prices, in general, are lower than conventional burials where biodegradable caskets are in use. The burial fees go to the conservation of the burial grounds. Conservation burial has the potential to reduce the impact of landfills on the environment, and reconnect people with nature and finance public open space.
Static Memorials & Markers
Give this some thought!
Large Headstones are usually perched from cemetery monument dealers, a tradition, but does not necessarily have to be. Most cemetery associations do require using a Professional Monument Dealer for good reasons, but there are better and less expensive ways to mark a grave, so ask your dealer.
When the burial is going in a public cemetery or church graveyard, you will need permission to make any changes to the rules. But traditions, practices, or customs do change, so monument dealers are the best place to get professional help.
Do some research on the Internet, Pinterest.com, for some ideas that you and your family may like.
But Do go to your local Monument Dealer for some professional help.
Best materials for gravestones today would be a durable material like granite or bronze; also stainless steel is becoming quite popular. Granite is affordable and hard, even massive, making it hard to steal. Also, granite makes for an excellent foundation for any headstone or monument to place your engraved granite headstone on rather than concrete. Granite should be installed with a superb substrate to keep it from heaving.
Wisconsin Cemetery Services policy is not to repair old sandstone headstones that may have fallen into desuetude in cemeteries. We know of no right way to restore old Sandstone headstones because of its material, mainly sand or rock grains and quartz or feldspar, making it very fragile. We feel any repair of sandstone would not be a respectful way to honor the loved one, family, or cemetery.
We encourage replacing a broken headstone with a new marker easily obtained from local monument dealer that is safe for outdoor use. A granite monument dealer can easily engrave an epitaph for you.
Large Headstones are usually perched from cemetery monument dealers, a tradition, but does not necessarily have to be. Most cemetery associations do require using a Professional Monument Dealer for good reasons, but there are better and less expensive ways to mark a grave, so ask your dealer.
When the burial is going in a public cemetery or church graveyard, you will need permission to make any changes to the rules. But traditions, practices, or customs do change, so monument dealers are the best place to get professional help.
Do some research on the Internet, Pinterest.com, for some ideas that you and your family may like.
But Do go to your local Monument Dealer for some professional help.
Best materials for gravestones today would be a durable material like granite or bronze; also stainless steel is becoming quite popular. Granite is affordable and hard, even massive, making it hard to steal. Also, granite makes for an excellent foundation for any headstone or monument to place your engraved granite headstone on rather than concrete. Granite should be installed with a superb substrate to keep it from heaving.
Wisconsin Cemetery Services policy is not to repair old sandstone headstones that may have fallen into desuetude in cemeteries. We know of no right way to restore old Sandstone headstones because of its material, mainly sand or rock grains and quartz or feldspar, making it very fragile. We feel any repair of sandstone would not be a respectful way to honor the loved one, family, or cemetery.
We encourage replacing a broken headstone with a new marker easily obtained from local monument dealer that is safe for outdoor use. A granite monument dealer can easily engrave an epitaph for you.
World Wide Web Memorials
Ashes to Ashes *
Burial of the dead is one of the oldest human traditions. Evolving traditions rich in cultural past, but also religious beliefs that continue to change in our future. As science and technology grow, so do future legends and ever so slowly religious beliefs. Add to that economics and resources that also play a significant role in cemetery innovations and changes. The days of sprawling fields of headstones and marble monuments are becoming part of the same past as our ancestors, mostly abandoned as time goes by.
So just what is the best way to respect the loss of a loved one forever?
There still is the traditional burial with casket, vault, and headstone, then finding an appropriate cemetery. Nowadays Going Green, where bio-degradable and or cremated remains, is a choice. Also now is liquid cremation, alkaline hydrolysis(cremation with water and lye) as opposed to burning; in the end, you get ash.
Cremation allows families many choices for memorializing a loved one. Remains can be divided among family or spread in favorite locations like land or water. Some folks like to keep their loved one cremated remains in an urn at home or yard to memorialize, but what happens to those remains after you are gone. Who's to remember your loved one or you for that matter.
You could choose a more permanent public location such as a cenotaph, columbarium, niches, and mausoleums, or cremation gardens, thus having a consistent place for healing to allow for family and friends to anchor to, long after burial is over.
How well does this preserve your loved one's legacy with dignity for future families'? A headstone with short epitaph and obituary or personal history research by the genealogist, that does little to tell you who the person was when remembered. This seems a bit short on respect for your loved one and for others to remember.
Cemeteries are becoming full, and it's hard to find an open spot for burial. Cemetery land is also hard to get and very pricey and add to that the maintenance required for upkeep is pricey. Some big cities are developing open high-rise buildings looking like parking ramps for cremated remain burials. Think No grass, just a small piece of green carpet, with urn and marker as a public cemetery for the memorialization of your loved one.
Nowadays, you may also want to choose a World Wide Web Memorial with little one-time expense that will allow other families and friends to write too with photos of their fond remembrances of your loved one well into the future.
Your family history is very much part of who you are and where you belong in your life at your given time on earth. Also, it is what you will be passing on to your future families, your meaningful part of history.
Burial is not a final disposition! The end of life of a significant other is not the end of your relationship; instead, the tie persists, not frozen in time but evolving with modifications of biographies of self and the deceased.
Genealogy websites help discover your family roots with old family data and some photos of your family history and now even DNA testing. But still, that seems to miss on a personal level for me; I want to know more, like personalities and old family stories, to feel connected to my past with photos, documents, and words from friends. A personalized website for you and others to message your love, thoughts, memories, and pictures and stories in one accessible location for you and others on the world wide web. Today building your web memorial is elementary to do, inexpensive, fun, and a super way for family, friends, and future generations to participate.
Burial of the dead is one of the oldest human traditions. Evolving traditions rich in cultural past, but also religious beliefs that continue to change in our future. As science and technology grow, so do future legends and ever so slowly religious beliefs. Add to that economics and resources that also play a significant role in cemetery innovations and changes. The days of sprawling fields of headstones and marble monuments are becoming part of the same past as our ancestors, mostly abandoned as time goes by.
So just what is the best way to respect the loss of a loved one forever?
There still is the traditional burial with casket, vault, and headstone, then finding an appropriate cemetery. Nowadays Going Green, where bio-degradable and or cremated remains, is a choice. Also now is liquid cremation, alkaline hydrolysis(cremation with water and lye) as opposed to burning; in the end, you get ash.
Cremation allows families many choices for memorializing a loved one. Remains can be divided among family or spread in favorite locations like land or water. Some folks like to keep their loved one cremated remains in an urn at home or yard to memorialize, but what happens to those remains after you are gone. Who's to remember your loved one or you for that matter.
You could choose a more permanent public location such as a cenotaph, columbarium, niches, and mausoleums, or cremation gardens, thus having a consistent place for healing to allow for family and friends to anchor to, long after burial is over.
How well does this preserve your loved one's legacy with dignity for future families'? A headstone with short epitaph and obituary or personal history research by the genealogist, that does little to tell you who the person was when remembered. This seems a bit short on respect for your loved one and for others to remember.
Cemeteries are becoming full, and it's hard to find an open spot for burial. Cemetery land is also hard to get and very pricey and add to that the maintenance required for upkeep is pricey. Some big cities are developing open high-rise buildings looking like parking ramps for cremated remain burials. Think No grass, just a small piece of green carpet, with urn and marker as a public cemetery for the memorialization of your loved one.
Nowadays, you may also want to choose a World Wide Web Memorial with little one-time expense that will allow other families and friends to write too with photos of their fond remembrances of your loved one well into the future.
Your family history is very much part of who you are and where you belong in your life at your given time on earth. Also, it is what you will be passing on to your future families, your meaningful part of history.
Burial is not a final disposition! The end of life of a significant other is not the end of your relationship; instead, the tie persists, not frozen in time but evolving with modifications of biographies of self and the deceased.
Genealogy websites help discover your family roots with old family data and some photos of your family history and now even DNA testing. But still, that seems to miss on a personal level for me; I want to know more, like personalities and old family stories, to feel connected to my past with photos, documents, and words from friends. A personalized website for you and others to message your love, thoughts, memories, and pictures and stories in one accessible location for you and others on the world wide web. Today building your web memorial is elementary to do, inexpensive, fun, and a super way for family, friends, and future generations to participate.
