‘COMMUNITY SPIRIT’

Veterans, volunteers help restore Civil War sign at St. Mary’s Cemetery

Jim Rivers (from l.), John “Jack” Welsh, Carole Weaver, Kelly Grimaldi, Kevin Sage, Sam Chiappone and Bill Sage stand in front of the newly restored Medal of Honor sign at the south entrance of St. Mary’s Cemetery in Troy. The old sign (seen below) was restored thanks to community efforts and sponsored by the C.R.A.B. Garrison #1954 club. (Emily Benson photos and photo provided)

Carole Weaver was driving into St. Mary’s Cemetery in Troy late this summer when she finally had enough.

Weaver, who frequents the local cemetery to visit family members laid to rest, was always stopped by the historic sign for Civil War Medal of Honor recipient Michael Burke (born 1844 and died 1878) on display by the cemetery’s south entrance. After years of wear and tear, the sign had taken a toll.

“The sign was horrible,” Weaver said. “You couldn’t read it.”

The granddaughter of a WWI veteran and community outreach coordinator for the Troy-based veterans group, C.R.A.B. Garrison #1954, Weaver always wished there was a way to restore it. 

“One day I said, ‘That’s it!’ ” she laughed. Weaver reached out to Kelly Grimaldi, Director of Programs and Development for Albany Diocesan Cemeteries, and fellow C.R.A.B. Garrison members, John “Jack” Welsh and Jim Rivers, about how to get the sign fixed.

On the left, the Medal of Honor sign before being updated, and on the right, after it was restored. 

Above the sign’s text is a logo that was designed specifically for The Civil War Veterans Memorial Restoration Project, which Grimaldi helped spearhead nearly 20 years ago. Since then, she and other volunteers have restored or replaced many veteran gravestones. 

“I understand why people were upset about the sign,” Grimaldi said. “We didn’t know how to refurbish it.”

What followed was a great community effort: Rivers contacted Sam Chiappone, another member of the C.R.A.B. club and a co-facilitator of the neighborhood group, the Little Italy Quality of Life Committee in South Troy, who reached out to Bill Sage of Sage Brothers Painting Co.

Rivers and Welsh took the sign down and transported it to Sage Brothers, where it was restored by Bill Sage and his son, Kevin, who sandblasted and handpainted the sign to look new. The C.R.A.B. club sponsored the sign’s refurbishment and helped put it back onto the stand. 

Jack Welsh says a few words about Michael Burke at the sign's installation. 

On Oct. 6, the whole crew gathered at the front of St. Mary’s to unveil the new sign and to celebrate the work done to ensure the continuation of honoring past veterans.

“Everybody (at Albany Diocesan Cemeteries) is so grateful,” Grimaldi said at the unveiling. “We’re all extremely grateful because that bothered us for a long time, too. This is just beautiful.” 

“I think it’s a really good example of community spirit that’s in the neighborhood,” added Chiappone. “I think it’s really important.”