Tree of Light a “bright spot” at Riverview Cemetery
Jefferson City News Tribune
November 25, 20217
Those walking in or near Riverview Cemetery may notice a glow of different lights not normally at a cemetery. Tucked away in the cemetery, the colorful Tree of Light stands tall as a beacon during the holidays.
Riverview Cemetery Manager, Tim Theroff said the tree has about 6,500 lights and is intended to cheer up families when they visit the cemetery at 2600 W. Main St.
"We want it to kind of be a bright spot for people who come into the cemetery to visit and remember their loved ones over the holidays," he said. "We were trying to think of something to do for people who come in during the holidays, knowing that sometimes that's a hard time for families, and we just thought that might be a bright spot for them."
The tree will stay in the cemetery during the holidays, and the lights will come down after New Year's Eve.
Columbaria by Steve Cronin
September 01, 2017
With the local cremation rate climbing, the Riverview Cemetery Association in Jefferson City, Missouri, knew installing a new columbarium was a good idea that would pay dividends in the future.
Still, cemetery manager Tim Theroff wasn't going to rush into anything.
"We were reaching the point where we would be running out of inventory, but it had to be something that did justice to the beauty of the cemetery as a whole," he said. "We didn't want to just put a prefabricated thing down there."
Theroff did a lot of research to ensure that whatever was built was "stately, dignified and something we could offer at a price point that will allow us to take care of this cemetery forever," he said.
He also wanted something a little out of the ordinary.
"I went online and saw some that were a little out, of the box and I saw some with curved walls - I liked that," Theroff said.
What he particularly liked were some projects created by Sunset Memorial & Stone in Calgary, lberta. He placed a call to company president Gordon Leaf and liked what he heard.
"Gord said, 'If you can dream it, we can build it,"' Theroff recalled. "So we put a committee together and began to discuss what we wanted."
The project Riverview came up with was two curved walls with niches on both sides, for a total of 320 spaces. The cemetery handles about 100 interments annually, and its cremation rate has climbed quickly in the last three or four years and now stands at about 25 percent. Theroff hopes to eventually add additional columbaria walls in the space, to bring the number of niches up to 800.
"We have been in business for 100 years. We are going to be in the game for centuries to come. We do anticipate we will need it," he said.
The Grand Chinook columbarium "combines the latest in engineering technology with old school masonry know how," according to Sunset Memorial & Stone literature on the project.
The columbarium's core uses lightweight anodized aluminum to support niches made of Nylene, a militarygrade plastic first developed for use on the MlAl Abrams tank and now used in the construction of Predator drones. Each niche has a keyed aluminum door and the entire columbarium is clad in gray granite with the niche doors covered with ¾-inch black granite facings, Theroff said.
The cemetery went with granite facings after deciding they provided a faster, less-expensive option for engraving than using brass doors, Theroff said.
"We wanted something that would have a quick turnaround time, which will give the families more closure," Theroff said. Engraving the granite can usually be done in a few days, and families coming for interments "appreciate the fact they are getting a finished product right then and there," he said.
The cemetery went with black granite facings at the suggestion of Sunset.
"We wanted something that was neutral and that would not go out of style," Theroff said. "Black seemed like a good bet."
When designing the area, the Riverview committee decided it wanted more than just columbaria at the site and looked for ways to transform the area into a tranquil and healing space.
"We thought a fountain would provide a nice focal point," he said. "We thought it would be a nice anchor - with the fountain having a calming, soothing effect."
Riverview has a policy that bans flowers and custom engraving. While operators had anticipated pushback, Theroff said the community has embraced the cemetery's new offering.
"They love the fountain and the landscaping down there. They like that they don't have to come back and decorate on a regular basis," he said. "They like the uniformity of it and that everything is being tastefully planted and well maintained."
The columbarium was dedicated on Memorial Day 2017, but its first interment had occurred six months earlier, in November 2016.
"That happened even before the fountain was finished. But looking at our plans, they knew what was planned and that it was a place they'd like," Theroff said.
Tree of Light a “bright spot” at Riverview Cemetery
Jefferson City News Tribune
November 25, 20217
The work of a group of Jefferson City High School students at Riverview Cemetery on Monday was as much about learning history as honoring it.
JCHS teacher Charlie Ledgerwood led a group that included about 15 students in National Honor Society, his 10-year-old son, C.J.; and his fiancée, Kathleen Turner, to mark the graves of veterans in the cemetery with American flags as Memorial Day nears.
This is the second year Ledgerwood and the students have volunteered to honor veterans' graves at Riverview in this way. "As a vet myself, I feel it's something that needs to be done," he said.
Ledgerwood serves in the Missouri National Guard and has been deployed multiple times, including four times in the state to assist in disasters and once to Afghanistan.
"I think they get a little bit of a history lesson," in addition to community service hours they need for National Honor Society and a chance to honor veterans who have passed on, he said.
For those who know where and how to look, a walk among the tombstones can lead to history leaping off the headstones.
The flat, ground-level markers provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs give some details — like the name, rank, service branch, war era, birth and death dates, religious affiliation and notable earned commendations of a service member, like a Bronze Star or Purple Heart. A few had to be uncovered after being partially buried by mud and plant debris after recent storms.
The volunteers used these bronze or stone markers to find the corresponding family headstone, if any, and planted flags there. Ledgerwood said they marked about 1,100 graves.
One family headstone denoted a U.S. Army veteran had served in the 75th Infantry Division in World War II. With a quick internet search by Ledgerwood, that brief inscription brought forth the framework of a compelling story; not even two weeks after landing in France in December 1944, the 75th Infantry Division found itself fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.
According to Army records, in 94 days of combat, 888 members of the division were killed, 2,970 wounded and 96 missing, of a total of 8,016 casualties. Division members received 1,287 Bronze Stars, 114 Silver Stars, 29 Air Medals, 21 Soldiers Medals, three Legions of Merit and three Distinguished Service Crosses.
"If people know more about their community, they're invested," Ledgerwood said. He added if people are invested in their community, they're more likely to settle there and help ensure the long-term health of the community.
He relayed that Riverview Cemetery Association General Manager Tim Theroff has said veterans' families appreciate the flags.
"They really sped things up for us," Riverview Cemetary Board President Mark Schreiber said. When he planted the flags by himself, it took him all day.
Ledgerwood said it took the group about four hours with eight people to plant the flags last year, and they did the work in about two hours this year.
"They save us an awful lot of time," Schreiber said. He said it makes him feel good to see young people volunteering. His father and brother-in-law were veterans, too.
"It was an honor for me to lay flags on the graves of those who've served our country," Stephen Rogers said. Rogers will be a junior this fall.
"It's not something you do every day," said Noah Gernander, who will be a senior.
Ledgerwood added: "It's a pretty decent way to spend the first Monday after school's out."
Cemetery building columarium for urns
January 26, 2017
Throughout time, man has valued the commemoration of a life's end to give closure to the survivors and to memorialize the departed.
A traditional burial provides a permanent place for friends or family to remember the deceased. And the headstone often is the "last record we ever existed," said Mark Schreiber, board president at Riverview Cemetery.
As a preference for cremation grows, the largest cemetery in Cole County chose to "provide a stately and dignified setting" for those names to be remembered, as well.
Some families who choose cremation take the ashes home or scatter them. Unfortunately, they may be forgotten or lost in the next generation. Stories have been told of ashes in vases unknowingly set out at garage sales.
The columbarium under construction at Riverview Cemetery already has interments. When finished, the first phase will accommodate 320 niches, each able to hold up to two urns inside a military-grade metal vault behind a black granite face.
"This is a forever place, a place for all family members and friends to visit and remember that person," General Manager Tim Theroff said.
The cemetery found its interment of cremated remains has risen more than 200 percent in just 15 years, Theroff said.
The National Funeral Directors Association forecasts by 2030, cremation will account for 71 percent of all burials nationwide. Already the rate of cremation has surpassed traditional burial in the United States.
Some places, mostly along the coasts, already have a cremation rate of about 75 percent, Theroff said. In Missouri, the average is 41 percent cremation.
"It's coming this way," he said. "We have niches in the mausoleum, but at this rate, we're going to run out."
The national association suggested reasons for the shift include cost, environment, fewer religious prohibitions and a general change in consumer preference.
The local, not-for-profit, non-denominational cemetery chose to "do justice to cremated remains" by adding the columbarium, Theroff said.
To that end, the circular location includes parking areas and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant access. Ample seating around a central, lighted fountain will allow for services.
Hardwood trees will be planted on either side of the columbarium, continuing the cemetery's goal to return to a Victorian era-inspired park-like feel, Schreiber said.
"When this is all finished, it will be something people will feel proud to put their family member in," he said.
Grave lesson in history - NHS students place flags at Riverview graves of veterans
May 24, 2016
Members of the Jefferson City High School National Honor Society spent part of their Monday morning making sure veterans would be properly honored on Memorial Day.
Nine society members went through Riverview Cemetery placing American flags on the graves of veterans.
"I contacted the high school because we are always looking for help," Riverview Manager Tim Theroff said. "Memorial Day and the weekend around it are always the times where we see our most visitors."
Theroff said Riverview has approximately 1,000 veterans buried throughout the cemetery.
"There have been many times where just one person has done this and that takes all day," he said. "With the kids' help this year, it's just going to take a few hours." The students were instructed flags were to be placed at graves with a VA marker on the headstone. They were shown where and how to place the flags.
Riverview Board President, Mark Schreiber went out with the students, telling them about the history of those buried in the cemetery.
"It's very uplifting to see these young people wanting to come out and honor our veterans," he said.
The students' sponsor, Charlie Ledgerwood, serves in the Missouri National Guard and has been in the service for 14 years.
"I was happy to get the call for this," he said. "It's an opportunity for the students to give back to the community, and it's also an education for them."
Among the group putting out flags was Cole Biesemeyer, who will be a junior next school year.
"I didn't know how many people from Jefferson City served in the military," he said. "It makes me proud to know that so many served in the military from here."