Rajordan (rā'-jər-dăn')
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Memorial Hill Cemetery Transcription Project
Cook-Walden Memorial Hill Cemetery Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery and Mausoleum
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Cook-Walden Memorial Hill Cemetery Transcription Project
I found a couple of requests for photos at Find A Grave. For those out there who are unfamiliar with Find A Grave, you can create a memorial for a loved one, then request a photo of their grave marker. If there is a volunteer in the area of the cemetery, the volunteer goes to the cemetery, photographs the grave marker and posts the photo on Find A Grave, as in:
So, to pay back others who so generously had given of their time for my family grave markers, in January 2009, I got a list of names from Find A Grave of people who had requested photos of grave markers in Cook-Walden Capital Parks Cemetery and Mausoleum and naively took off to take photos. Because the cemetery is large, I dropped in on the funeral home next to the cemetery to ask where graves were located. My experience with big cemeteries is that they have either a computer or a printout where a visitor can look up the information. There was no self help at this funeral home. I spoke with the receptionist and eventually I talked with some guy who said that it was a personnel issue; they were busy right then and didn't have anyone available to look up information for me. OK, I understood that. I asked if I could leave them a list of names and would they call me after they had time to look up the information I wanted. The guy seemed a bit reluctant, but agreed that they could do that and I left my name, phone number and my list of ten names. After I had not heard from them in three weeks, I dropped in on them again. The guy I talked to did not remember that I had given them a list, but I was prepared; I had kept a copy of my list. This time he really showed his reluctance. He gave the excuse that it was a "privacy issue." (These people are dead. The location of a dead person's grave is a "privacy issue?") I asked him if I was free to walk around the cemetery and take photographs of grave markers. He said yes, but then he immediately asked if I was a member of some branch of law enforcement. I told him no, that I was not. He finally admitted that the information I needed was on 3" by 5" cards in back - nothing was computerized. Kiddingly, I told him he needed to get with the program and join the rest of us into the 21st century. He had someone look up two (Two! Out of ten!) names for me, showed me where they were located on a cemetery map, and shooed me out the door. I found the grave markers, took photos of them and some 122 other grave markers around them. I haven't been back to that cemetery since. This isn't just my experience. Others have had the same problem with this same funeral home.
Created: 20 Apr 2009 Last updated: January 15, 2010 |
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