Say "thanks" to your Pioneer Cemetery Commission

Memorial Day almost is upon us --- and that was my excuse early Monday evening for lining up these six  members of the Lucas County Pioneer Cemetery Commission at the end of their regular meeting, held at the Lucas County Historical Society Museum. These are the ladies and gentlemen who, along with four others, are responsible for the care and maintenance of 26 Lucas County cemeteries designated "pioneer."

They are (seated) Ron Christensen and Linda Jurgens and (standing from left) James Dixon Jr., Ron Ruddell, Mike Goben and Mary Ruth Pierschbacher. Other commission members are Dave Beatty, Don Brown, Michile Goben and Don Holmes.

The Pioneer Cemetery Commission was formed during 1997 after the Iowa Legislature offered the state's 99 counties the option as a way of dealing with abandoned or indifferently maintained cemeteries that were no longer in use. A pioneer cemetery currently is defined as one in which 12 or fewer burials have occurred during the last 50 years.

Counties that established commissions were authorized to levy a small tax to fund restoration and maintenance of these cemeteries, usually assuming responsibilities previously held by township trustees, and over the course of 25 years, all of Lucas County's "pioneers" have been restored.

The cemeteries range in size from a single grave (of my great-great-great-grandfather, William Clair, in Pleasant Township) to large cemeteries like Greenville in Washington Township.

There's still work to be done. This year, for example, the commission fenced Gay-Plymate Cemetery in Warren Township at the request of the owner of surrounding farm land (there are no marked graves at Gay-Plymate).

Maintenance is ongoing and commission members monitor their cemeteries and arrange for repairs to stones that deteriorate or are damaged as time passes. A current goal, once enough funding has been gathered, is to arrange for repairs to stones at Greenville, restored originally 25 years ago.

Here's the list of Lucas County's pioneer cemeteries: AME at old Cleveland, Allen, Arnold, Belinda-Swede, Brownlee, Clair-Clear, Wells-Clore, County Home, Douglas, Fletcher, Gay-Plymate, Freedom, Greenville, LaGrange, Murray, Niswender-Dillman, Parr-Wheeler, Pine Hill-Bingham,  Prather, Rosehill, Ragtown, Spring Hill, Strong, Walker-Black,  Webb-Fisher and Wren Hill.