DE PERE (NBC 26) — A historic cemetery in De Pere is turning to the community for help after officials say a recent $1 million restoration project wasn't enough to address ongoing erosion threatening graves along the Fox River.
Get a bird's eye view of the cemetery and see side-by-side images of the river bed before and after the restoration project in the video below:
Greenwood Cemetery, which has served the community since the 1800s, faces a unique challenge in funding maintenance and preservation efforts due to its unusual ownership structure.
Erosion threatens historic graves
The cemetery's location along the Fox River has created ongoing problems with shoreline erosion that puts historic graves at risk of sinking into the water. About two years ago, the cemetery invested $1 million in removing trees and reinforcing the shoreline, but officials say more work is needed since there are still areas where the ground is eroding and graves are in danger of sinking into the river.
Randall Lawton, president of the Greenwood Cemetery Association, has generations of relatives buried at the site, including a Civil War veteran.
"We come out here and talk to the relatives all the time," Lawton said.
Unique Ownership Creates Funding Challenges
Unlike many cemeteries owned by cities or churches, Greenwood Cemetery operates under a different model. People who purchase burial plots become owners of the land, which creates challenges when it comes to funding restoration of historic grave markers. But, cemetery officials cannot do away with them or let them become more damaged.
"That individual or that family decided that that was how they wanted to honor that person," Lawton said when looking at a leaning grave marker from the 1870s.
$1.5 Million still needed
Executive Director Jewels Sowers says the cemetery needs to raise an additional $1.5 million to complete their restoration project. $70,000 in donations towards that ammount has come in from the community thus far, The work these funds would provide is planned to address remaining shoreline erosion issues and restore historical grave markers.
The project also includes plans to add lookout points that would create a more park-like atmosphere on the property, allowing visitors to better appreciate the site's historical significance.
"People walk through and go 'Oh, that was my teacher,' or 'Oh, that's my friend's parents.' So, it is a walk through people's lives," Sowers said.
Preserving stories behind the stones
For cemetery officials, the restoration effort is about more than just maintaining the physical structures. It's about preserving the stories and memories of the people laid to rest there.
"When you look at monuments, you'll see a birth date, a death date and then there's that dash, and that dash is what we want to remember," Sowers said. "We want to remember the lives that these people have lived."
This story was reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
