Cover StoryBy Patti Martin Bartsche

This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of American Cemetery & Cremation, published by Kates-Boylston Publications,and is being shared with permission. Visit www.americancemetery.com to subscribe.

Founded in 1889 as a nonprofit,nondenominational cemetery associa-tion located in Maplewood, Min-nesota, a suburb of St. Paul, UnionCemetery continues to be governedby a board of trustees.

“The reason it’s called UnionCemetery is that three Swedishchurches came together to form anondenominational cemetery,” assis-tant superintendent Dominic Pierresaid. “They created a union that con-tinues on today.”

Over the years, the 60-acre ceme-tery, which is the final resting placefor more than 27,000 individuals,has worked to find innovative waysto connect with the community.

Beyond offering a series of events

throughout the year, highlightingsnippets of history on its Facebookpage, and providing memorial pagesfor those interred at its grounds,Union Cemetery has made memorial-ization a priority in recent years.

Several years ago, the cemeteryerected a veterans memorial on theeast side of the property.

The memorial was a way for thecemetery to honor those who served,but who were not buried on cemeterygrounds. Families are able to engravethe name of an honorably dischargedloved one for $250.

“We were thinking about it (thememorial) for a while, but we weren’tsure what the perception from thecommunity would be,” Pierre said.

Ultimately, the association agreedthat the memorial would be the rightthing to do.

In doing its research, the cemeteryfound that one of 20 people in Ram-sey County is a veteran, and three-quarters of the veterans are 55 andolder, Pierre said.

“Families had been talking to usbecause a loved one may have beenburied at nearby Fort Snelling NationalCemetery, and other family memberswere buried at Union Cemetery,”Pierre said. “The veterans memorialallowed us an opportunity to helpmake that connection ... that whenthey visit the cemetery, that they havea place to remember all their familymembers.”

ConnectionAlthough it dates back nearly 120 years, Union Cemetery hasalways found ways to keep up with the times ... including via theservices and products it offers families.

M a k i n g a

Opposite page: The veterans memorial wall provides family members the opportunity

to engrave the name of a loved one who has been honorably discharged but who

may not be buried in the cemetery. This page: The radial columbarium designed and

manufactured by Coldspring encircles the veterans memorial at Union Cemetery in

Maplewood, Minnesota. (Photos courtesy of Coldspring)

This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of American Cemetery & Cremation, published by Kates-Boylston Publications,and is being shared with permission. Visit www.americancemetery.com to subscribe.

Like many parts of the country,Minnesota has a cremation rate ofover 50 percent; in the greater St.Paul area, that rate is more than 60percent, Pierre said. And whileUnion Cemetery has a variety ofoptions for the interment of cremat-ed remains within its grounds, theveterans memorial offered a newopportunity for the interment ofcremated remains.

“We had space for columbariaaround the veterans memorial, sowe thought this was a great oppor-tunity to create a new feature with-in our grounds,” Pierre said. As ithad for the veterans memorial, theassociation contacted Minnesota-based Coldspring to design andconstruct a radial columbarium

around the memorial.The cemetery offered a rough

schematic of its original thoughts,and it was up to Coldspring design-er Molly Buerman to bring thosethoughts to reality.

“I sorted out the details andbegan the design work, keeping inmind the needs of the cemetery,”Buerman said. “I was able to envi-sion the cemetery’s wants and needsand incorporate those into my ownpersonal vision for the complex.”

Merging the two, Buermanadded, created an inviting space al-lowing for remembrance of all whohave served.

From the start of the designprocess, it was important to ensurethe flow of the complex and the

central feature were consistent.“We used the same stone (MesabiBlack granite) to merge the two,creating symmetry, and used ac-cents of a Rock Pitch finish to en-hance the strength of the complex.”

The final design was submitted inearly 2016, and Coldspring wasawarded the contract in Septemberof that year. Project manager TomPrior worked with the cemeterythroughout the winter to finalizethe images on the memorial. Fabri-cation of the granite started in early2017. By April, the foundation wasinstalled; three months later, thecolumbarium pieces were installed.

The project is substantial in size.The eight preassembled units eachweighed about 7,200 pounds andmeasured 3 feet wide by 8 feet longand 4 feet 4 inches tall, Prior said.Approximately 9,000 pounds ofloose material was set between theunits, he added.

According to Prior, the pieceswere delivered on two full-sizesemi-trucks. A large crane was usedto off-load the preassembled units,and a smaller boom truck was usedto set the loose pieces between thepreassembled units.

Because there was about a foot ofelevation change from the left tothe right side of the property, Cold-spring needed to move dirt fromone side to the other before thefoundation was installed.

While Coldspring had workedwith Union Cemetery previously,Prior said each project is different.“This project is unique in the factthat it is a veterans niche memori-al,” he said. “We haven’t developedthat many veterans memorials thatare intended to hold cremated re-mains.”

And with cremation becomingmore popular, Prior added, “thiswill be another option for familiesto memorialize their loved oneswho served in the armed forces.”

There is no question that thecomplex is a prominent fixture in

This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of American Cemetery & Cremation, published by Kates-Boylston Publications,and is being shared with permission. Visit www.americancemetery.com to subscribe.

the cemetery, Pierre said.“We’re a very blue-collar com-

munity,” Pierre explained. “Wedon’t have a lot of tall monumentshere, so the veterans memorialcomplex has become a real focalpoint on our grounds.”

Reaction to the project has beenoverwhelmingly positive, accordingto Pierre.

“It started with the veteransmemorial because we were able tooffer families a way to memorializea loved one who might not beburied at our grounds,” Pierre said.“And with the addition of thecolumbaria, we have the opportuni-ty to talk to families about the im-portance of permanentmemorialization for cremated re-mains.”

While it may be romantic to scat-ter the cremated remains in a lake,for example, once that is done,where does a person go to see thename of their loved one, to touchthat name, to make that connec-tion,” Pierre said. “This complexoffers that connection.”

Although the columbarium pro-ject encircles the veterans monu-ment, the niches are not reservedexclusively for veterans, Pierre said.“This is a perfect spot for veteransto be interred,” he said. “At thesame time, it’s a perfect spot for allMinnesotans to be interred.”

That is why the images on thecolumbarium are not of the branch-es of the military (although eachbranch is represented on the memo-rial wall) but of things that res-onate with Minnesotans, includingthe walleye and white-tailed deer.

Early on, there had been sometalk about using quotes with reli-gious themes, but the associationultimately decided to go with some-thing different.

“We chose things that wouldspeak to the people who are buriedhere ... images that would resonatewith all Minnesotans,” Pierre said.“People are not as religious as they

were in the past, and if we’re ableto help connect them through theirhobbies, to help in memorializingthem, that’s what is important.”

The columbarium complex hasalso helped those families whereone person might want a traditionalground burial, while the other per-son may want to be cremated.“Now, they can be near each other. . . not in opposite parts of thecemetery,” Pierre said.

As it has from its earliest begin-nings, Union Cemetery is dedicatedto providing residents with choicesto remember their loved ones. “Wewant them to come here and beable to touch a name if they want... and remember that life that waslived.” •

Opposite page and above: Images

representing Minnesota, including

the state tree (left) and state fish

(above) are engraved on the

Mesabi Black granite that was

used to fabricate the columbarium.

(Photos courtesy of Coldspring)