Couple's care kept cemetery in top condition

For Barbara and Frank Kasprowich, taking care of the parish cemetery at St. Joseph's Church in Richfield Springs for 40 years is a ministry.

"If you stand on this spot, you can see the lake, right over there," Mr. Kasprowich said on a recent tour of the cemetery, pointing towards Lake Canadarago. "Of course, most people that aren't from this area don't know about that."

Nor do they know about the quaint rural cemetery that has perched upon the hillside for over 130 years.

Location

"The church is below us at the bottom of this hill," Mr. Kasprowich said. "They used to use a dirt track back there to carry the bodies up here for burial. They brought them up on a horse-drawn cart."

The present-day entrance is from a road near Route 20 that also leads to the municipal cemetery for the Town of Richfield Springs. St. Joseph's Cemetery is behind the public burial ground.

Because of its location, there is little space left for parishioners to be buried there.

Chart of plots

Several years ago, the couple decided to catalog the lots and burial sites. Mr. Kasprowich located each grave and drew up a chart that shows the names of those who have been buried. He also recorded the remaining open spaces.

"We relied on index cards that were kept in a file in the office since the cemetery opened," Mrs. Kasprowich explained. "I made a database and recorded them in the parish computer."

In retirement

Mr. and Mrs. Kasprowich are retired from a dairy farm they operated for much of their lives. When he retired, Mr. Kasprowich was commissioned by the pastor of St. Joseph's to keep the cemetery lawns cut.

Not only did the couple mow the lawns and do the landscaping, but, because he owned a backhoe, Mr. Kasprowich also became the grave-digger.

"I didn't mind doing that job at all," he said; "it seemed to be a natural extension of what I was already doing."

Coming back

Because of health issues, he has turned over the job of caretaker to another parishioner, but he and his wife frequently visit the cemetery to make sure everything is in order.

"We love coming here," Mrs. Kasprowich said, noting that the cemetery is a peaceful place that is "very personal for us."

Mr. Kasprowich said that, whenever he goes to the cemetery, it's like visiting his past.

Personal touch

In 1993, Mr. Kasprowich even prepared the gravesite for his sister.

"The pastor thought it might be too difficult for me, as we were close," he recalled. "But I decided that by digging that grave myself, I would know for sure that she had a good burial site. It was a great comfort to me to know that she would rest there. It was an honor for me to do it."

Even though he is no longer the official caretaker, he continues to mark and dig graves in the cemetery.

Last are first

In addition to parishioners buried in St. Joseph's, Mr. Kasprowich said that a grassy area was set aside at the back of the cemetery as a pauper's field for poor people to be buried.

Today, that area is at the front of the cemetery, where the new road comes in.

"We know there are graves there," he said. "It remains as it was, and it won't be disturbed. No one else will be buried there."

(8/10/06) [[In-content Ad]]