Trinity Lutheran Church volunteers restore historic cemetery monuments

Volunteers from Trinity Lutheran Church in Sebastopol gather around the cemetery's memorial cairn during a cleanup and restoration day. Front row, from left, are Joan Ferguson, Chloe Hazeleger, Tessa Hazeleger, Linda Weitzel and Evelyn Coulthard. Back row, from left, are Paul Epp, Richard Wilker, Janet Heinbuch, Tricia Hendry, Annabelle Hendry, Kathy Wilker and Angie Moore. Gary West photo

By Gary West

A group of dedicated volunteers from Trinity Lutheran Church in Sebastopol spent Saturday preserving a piece of local history by cleaning and restoring monuments and grave markers in the church cemetery.

The effort grew out of a project involving the Weitzel family of the Tavistock area and St. Marys heritage enthusiast Angie Moore, owner of Eternal Care Stone Services.

The Weitzel family first connected with Moore after learning about her work restoring historic headstones through social media. They approached her to clean the headstone of their late uncle, Francis Weitzel, who is buried in Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery alongside two other Tavistock veterans who were killed in action during the Second World War.

The headstone was restored in time for Remembrance Day last year as part of Moore's Veterans Project, an initiative through which she cleaned 12 veterans' headstones in 12 weeks free of charge leading up to Nov. 11.

Funding for restoration work at Trinity Cemetery was provided through the Ontario Genealogical Society's restoration and vandalism fund.

Moore worked alongside church member Joan Ferguson to prepare and submit the funding application, which was approved in full.

While the grant has helped address some restoration needs, many headstones in the cemetery still require cleaning and conservation work.

On Saturday, church members gathered with brushes, cleaning supplies and rubber gloves to focus their efforts on the large memorial cairn located on the east side of the cemetery facing Highway 59.

Moore said much of her business focuses on helping families preserve the memory of loved ones by cleaning and restoring aging monuments.

“Many people simply want to clean grandma's stone or spruce up uncle Bob's resting place,” she said.

Moore's work was recently featured on the Perth County website as a new local business. In addition to offering restoration services, she maintains a website and blog focused on cemetery preservation and local history.

More information about Eternal Care Stone Services is available at www.eternalcarestoneservices.ca. Free estimates are available, as each monument requires different levels of restoration work.

Moore can also be reached at 519-859-2849 or by email at eternalcarestoneservices@gmail.com.