Cemetery expansion underway

A major expansion project is underway at the St. Johns Cemetery north of New Rockford, and it’s just beginning to take shape.

The project has been ongoing for several years now and progress has slowly but surely moved along, but only recently has the cemetery begun to visibly transform.

As of Friday, Sept. 8, the hedgerow that ran north to south along the cemetery’s east side, and the hedgerow that ran east to west along its north-most edge, had both been removed.

With the hedgerows gone, the path has been cleared for the cemetery to begin expanding further north, into an area that’s 172 feet by 500 feet in size.

Kathy O’Connor, president of the Women’s Auxiliary Cemetery Association, explained that most of the plots in the existing St. John’s Cemetery have already been used or purchased, thus prompting the expansion project.

The new addition should have room for many dozens of additional plots.

O’Connor told the Transcript that removing the hedgerows was just the latest step in a 10-year plan to complete the expansion – a project they’re already several years into.

The architect plans were drawn up in 2020, and a survey for the new addition was completed in 2021. Electrical lines were then relocated and buried last year, and now both hedgerows have been removed.

Moving forward, the next step is to write a tree planting grant and to have trees planted along the cemetery’s eastern and northern periphery by 2025.

A gravel road will then be made where the old east-to-west hedgerow once stood, which would connect with another east-to-west road currently in the Prairie Home Cemetery.

Final plotting of the new cemetery addition is scheduled for completion in 2029. However, thanks to the generous lending of a dozer and pay loader by Casey and Levi Weber for hedgerow removal, the expansion project is a full year ahead of schedule.

The St. Johns Cemetery was also lent the use of tractors by Edward O’Connor and a tilling machine from Eddy County, which also allowed the project to see better-than-expected progress so far.

Before the project can take its next big leap towards completion, there are a few decisions that need to be made.

Among the first items on the agenda is determining what kind of trees to plant around the cemetery. Several members of the Auxiliary Cemetery Association were discussing exactly that when they met at the cemetery on Tuesday, Sept. 12.

O’Connor said the members are curious to hear what others have to say, and encouraged anyone with suggestions to reach out.

Of course, much of what they do will depend on how much they receive from grants, which are never guaranteed. Outside of potential grant funding, the Women’s Auxiliary Cemetery Association works entirely through donations.

Those interested in helping can reach out to Kathy O’Connor or any member of the association, or simply send a check to P.O. Box 303, New Rockford, ND, 58356.

“We’re just trying to make it a peaceful, calming place,” said O’Connor of the cemetery. “... and the donations from people have been just wonderful. They have backed us all the way and we’re just so grateful.”