Politics & Government

Lansdale Cemetery Gets New Life Under Lansdale Borough

Lansdale Borough Council on Wednesday voted unanimous for the borough to take ownership of the cemetery at Whites Road and South Broad Street. A new board of managers was appointed to oversee the maintenance and upkeep of the tract.

The former board of directors of Lansdale Cemetery are dying off, and funds coming in to maintain the cemetery at Whites Road and South Broad Street are low.
Thus, the current board, comprised of Jim Sommar, Phil Miller, Doug White and Dick Stricker, approached Lansdale Borough to take over ownership and maintenance of the cemetery nearly two years ago.
Now, in a 7-0 vote Wednesday, Lansdale Borough Council approved the land transfer of the tract to the borough and a lease of the cemetery to a new board of managers comprised of council Vice President Mary Fuller, Parks and Recreation Director Carl Saldutti and Public Works Supervisor Rick DeLong. Council voted 7-0 to appoint those three as the new board of managers to fill the vacancies from the old board.
Council President Matt West and Councilman Jack Hansen were absent from the meeting.
"The four of us are over 80 and you don't find people that are interested in being on the board," said former Lansdale Cemetery board member Dick Stricker. "The people that supported it have been passing away, and less and less money is coming in each year. The borough realizes that it's going to cost a little money to make sure it's mowed."
Borough Manager Timi Kirchner said the original board of directors sat down with the borough to have a "very good discussion" about "a piece of property that is very important to them and that they have taken very good care of over the years." 
"They suggested to us, knowing what the law is, which is when a cemetery falls into a state of disrepair that a municipality must take it over, that we take action before something like that happens," she said. "We worked with them for a reasonable transfer of land and the responsibilities." 
Kirchner said Stricker--renowned for his vast knowledge of the history of Lansdale--is one who "has shown tremendous dedication to a piece of land that is very important to the residents of Lansdale."
"A lot of people have family and friends and many generations buried in that cemetery," Kirchner said. 
Fuller extended her thanks and appreciation to the former board, solicitor Mark Hosterman and finance director Brian Shapiro for their tireless efforts in making the transfer a success. 
Fuller said she has a personal vested interest in the property, as she has ancestors that reside there.
"I thanked Mr. Miller, and the same goes for the other three, for the years of upkeep and love and attention to this property," she said. "I'm proud and happy that we've taken the initiative to not wait until the property is too far gone so we can keep it up to the standards that it should be." 
Hosterman said the new board of managers will meet and act to fill the vacancies themselves. He said the articles of incorporation require that the three members of the board be borough staff or councilmembers, and at all times, one must be a borough councilmember. 
Stricker said there are many, many prominent people buried at Lansdale Cemetery, including a couple of Lansdale's forefathers like William D. Heebner and A.C. Godshall. This author's grandfather, Robert Di Domizio, is one such prominent resident, as he held the titles of tax collector, Lansdale Borough councilman and North Penn School Board director in his lifetime. 
"William D. Heebner had the agricultural works that made horse-drawn farm machinery," Stricker said. "They were very large in their day. They went out of business in 1926."
Heebner went on to be elected to the Pennsylvania State Legislature.
"He is the one who on Washington's birthday had the state buy Valley Forge," Stricker said. "Valley Forge could have gone to be broken down into lots and he proposed the state buy it." 
Godshall, Stricker said, owned all of the ground where Madison Parking Lot exists today.
"He had a flour mill there and he named it Centennial Flour because he started it in 1876 when the country was 100 years old," he said.  
"We have people that were county treasurers. There's a whole slew of people there," Stricker said.
Burial plots are still available at Lansdale Cemetery. Kirchner said the logistics of payment for such plots will be worked out by the new board of managers.
Hosterman added that it is not a decision for the borough.
"I imagine it will continue to operate in the same manner as now, with the different composition on the board," he said. "The way that the agreement is between the borough and the cemetery company is the borough will take the simple title to the tract and then the borough leases it back to the cemetery company for it to manage it." 
Hosterman said a trust fund is available now for the property.
"Lansdale Cemetery Company was recently appointed by the court to be the new trustee. Wells Fargo was the previous trustee, but in the settlement of a litigation between the cemetery company and Wells Fargo, the cemetery gained the right to be the trustee of its own fund," he said.


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