OCONEE — Following a tradition dating back thousands of years, a group of caring farmers in the Oconee area bury their friends and families in graves of their own making.
“We think hand-dug graves show more respect,” said Roger Wolf, who is in charge of graves at the Sacred Heart Cemetery east of Oconee. “Many families, over the years, have taken time to thank us for what we do. It’s been a tradition here since the founding of Sacred Heart Church in 1872.”
Most of the cemetery board agrees that following tradition is the right thing to do, but at least one believes it’s the only way.
“There has never been a backhoe in this cemetery,” said Jim Temmen, president of the cemetery board. “And as long as I’m president of the association, there never will be.”
To be buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery, the deceased must have been a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church or related to a member.
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Lots in this cemetery can only be divided once. “We’ll cut a lot in half,” Temmen said, “so one urn containing the cremated remains of the deceased can be buried on one half and one on the remainder. Other members of the family will have to purchase a separate lot.”
There is no lack for space in this cemetery though. At the present rate, Temmen estimates it will take 200 years to fill all the lots.
The burial procedure usually begins with a phone call.
“Normally, I get a call from the funeral director who provides me with the name of the deceased, then, I start calling the volunteers,” Wolf explains. “Sometimes, one or two of the guys might be unavailable for one reason or another, so I just continue calling until I have enough people for the job.”
Wolf said sometimes family members show up to help them.
“Recently, a nephew of the deceased showed up to help bury his uncle, and when Henry Holthaus died, all of his grandchildren showed up to dig his grave.”
Wolf said there is always a sense of reverence and an immense amount of respect among the crew. And while it’s a somber time, there have been some lighter moments
“Most everyone we bury is well-known to us,” Wolf said, “so it’s only natural the men share stories about the deceased as they take a moment to rest. “When Carl Rakers died, for example, many recalled the Indian corn he grew and donated to the annual fall festival, and how he allowed land he owned at the north edge of town to be used for the annual Sacred Heart trap shoot, which last November celebrated its 76th year.”
It was Rakers’ grandparents, Gerhard and Annie M. Rakers who in 1880 donated the land to the Catholic Church for the cemetery.
“The deed is dated the eighth day of December,” Temmen said. “Now, the two-acre plot is enclosed with a white picket fence and a locking gate.”
Another memorable moment, Wolf recalled, happened a couple of years ago.
“When we found ourselves still working at the noon hour most of us were getting hungry, so we called the Pizza Hut in Pana and ordered three pizzas,” Wolf said. “When they ask me for a delivery address, I said ‘the cemetery in Oconee.’ They hung up, so we had to send one of the guys to get them.”
Since graves have to be dug in all kinds of weather, a few problems have come up over the years.
“One year, a blizzard came up, and by the time the service was over, we had to scoop paths from the tent to the cars and those who got stuck, we helped push out,” said Steve Beyers, who is one of the regular volunteers. “When it’s raining,” he said, “we’ll help the vault company set up the tent and use it to keep the ground as dry as possible so we can keep digging,”
Weather, though, is never a factor when a grave needs to be dug, according to Kevin Kuhn who’s been helping dig graves since he was a child.
“In rare instances, when exceptionally cold weather has persisted and the frost line is deep, we’ve had to build fires on the grave site to thaw the ground enough for us to begin digging,” Kuhn said.
But like all the sextons before them, in good weather and bad, a handful of volunteers bury the dead, continuing a 140-year-old tradition of paying respect to deceased friends and family members.
