History of Mt. Carmel Cemetery

                      The Church of Saint Mary - Sycamore, IL.

                     Writing and Photos by Nancy Turk with contribution from 
                          Marcia Wilson, Neil Hillquist and Father Timar.  May 2003

 You can't study history and not be intrigued by cemeteries.   The Church of Saint Mary has it's own cemetery established at the western end of Sycamore on Route 64.  This was named Mt. Carmel when it was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, under her title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and consecrated on September 8, 1891.  At this time the Rev. Michael Folley was pastor of our Parish.

St. Mary's purchased an existing cemetery from Miranda Quinn in 1891 for $193.00 with two more acres purchased from Mr. Jesse Alden for $350.00.  The grounds were then improved with fence, driveway, gravel and sidewalks at a cost of 442.12. Donations were from Mr. Charles Lattin (30 elm trees), Mr. George Hepton (wire), Charles Lattin and John Ryan (sidewalks), Mr. Armstrong (surveyed the ground into lots), the Mayor and the City council extended the sidewalk from what was then Mr. Walrod's house.  Mr. Walrod donated his own labor to remove fences.

In later years the Rev. Clement Caine acquired several acres of land south of the cemetery for further expansion.  In 1968 Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bollinger contributed funds to provide for the new entrance and North approach of the cemetery.  In 1971 a memorial fund was received from Charles and Ruth Townsend to acquire the exit onto Donlin Court and construct a road the full length of the cemetery.

Today the cemetery totals 5.84 acres. Parishioner Neil Hillquist (owner of Fargo Motors) manages the cemetery and has for the last five years.  Prior to this Wes Wilson was the superintendent for 4 years and Ron Johnson for the previous 20 years.

Neil is the keeper of the maps and recorder of the lots that detail who is buried where.  "When the cemetery was first established as Mt. Carmel in 1891, a grave lot cost  $35.00 explained Neil, Today a single standard lot sells for $300.00."  Records are filed by the surname of who purchased the plot and also by location number.  To purchase a lot or an entire family plot (a plot is 12 grave lots), call Erin in the Church office.  Father Timar clarified that when you purchase a grave site it gives the right to be buried in that defined spot, but the land will always belong to St. Mary's Church.

How much does it cost to run a cemetery?  Neil said that the largest expense is mowing the grass which costs about $6000.00 a year.  Mowing is paid from the sale of the graves. Neil is most bothered by a damaged flag pole, and it's repair is the main thing on Neil's "Mt. Carmel wish list" Father Rennel donated this flagpole memorial, located at the back of the cemetery, in honor of his mother.  Unfortunately someone hit the flag pole with a car so it is need of repair.

The cemetery records are on-line thanks to a 1980 project of the DeKalb County Historical Society.  The Society went to all the DeKalb County cemeteries and documented the names.  The Mt. Carmel pages were transcribed and alphabetized by Paul Weil of Genoa.  Special thanks to Paul!  The on-line records are at http://www.dekalb.ilgenweb.net and contain only the burials up to 1980.

Records show that the earliest burial on record is for Patrick Keegan, who was buried in 1833.   Other notables include four veterans of the Civil War: Edward Coyne, Michael McGraine, Daniel Ryan and Peter Riley and three veterans from the Spanish-American War: Robert Coffey John Rogers (died in 1908) and Harry Sell.  Neil explained that the cement vaults that today hold the wood coffins, started in the 40's and 50's.  Prior to that, people were buried just in the wood coffins.  If one of the old graves were ever dug up you probably would not find much of anything.

The old section of the cemetery is interesting with many of the big family plots.  The oldest monuments are on the left adjacent to what used to be an old gas station.  You can find many of the original church founders names on headstones. But the most prominent marker is that of our former pastor Rev. Peter S. Masterson who was buried in the center circle lot in 1945.

Neil explained that the new sections of the cemetery no longer have isles.  "There used to be a regulation where you had to have an isle between the rows for visitors to walk on.  In the 1970's the rules changed and there is no longer a need for isles. This change in regulation occurred because of space constraints and the ease of maintenance.

A mass is held annually at the cemetery on Memorial Day, weather permitting. Why not take a trip to the cemetery?  You will find it more enjoyable than you expect.