Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission turns 20

The Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission turns two decades old this year.

To show its appreciation for all who have volunteered their time to the organization, the commission will be hosting a luncheon starting at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at the Fayette County Historical Center in West Union.

While lunch is being served, Steve Story, Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission founding member, will give a brief presentation on what all the volunteers’ hard work has accomplished.

Story noted that pioneer cemetery commissions didn’t exist in Iowa until the Iowa Legislature passed the Pioneer Cemetery Law in 1996. This allowed County Board of Supervisors to set up pioneer cemetery commissions to oversee and improve the pioneer cemeteries in a county. This wasn't required of the counties, but something each individual county could decide to enact itself.

In 1998, the Fayette County Board of Supervisors voted to start a pioneer cemetery commission in Fayette County. Founding members of the Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission included Laura Westendorf, chairman; Virgie Bruening, vice-chairman; Doris Springer, secretary; Frances Graham, treasurer; Merlin Begalske; Donal Boie; Steve Story; Harvey Ungerer; and Richard Vagts. The commission also had advisory members that included Glenn Burlington, Tex Heyer, Charles Jacobsen, Linda Johnson, Alice Miller, Bill Moellering, Kay Thomas, Woody Thomas, and Kathryn Weidemann.

“It is going to take some money, so where are we going to get the money?” Steve Story asked. “People didn’t want to put their own money into it but wanted to get it done. We got a group of people who were interested and went to the Supervisors and worked up a set of rules for the commission. The Supervisors would give us the money, but none of it would be spent on wages for the commission. We would have concrete, posts, stones, and other expenses like leveling out the cemeteries that the money would be used for. We knew it would take a long time.”

The first pioneer cemetery on which the commission started working was Boale Cemetery, formerly known as Ames Cemetery, on M Avenue in rural West Union.

“It was a mess, but quite honestly, some of the people who lived around it just threw stones in the ditch,” Story recalled. “It took us quite a while to do, but we got it done. The Supervisors only gave us enough money to purchase the equipment needed to go find the stones, put them back in place, and put a fence around them.

“The people who joined the commission were older; some of them were retired but could still work. We knew we would lose some of our members over the years, but we did what we had to do to get the pioneer cemeteries all done.”

Two decades later, the commission has established 23 pioneer cemeteries in Fayette County.  

“Our people did the best of anyone, and I’m not the only one saying that. We have people who worked very hard,” said Story, former president of the Iowa Pioneer Cemetery Commission. “Not every county in Iowa participated in the program. Most of the counties that did are on the eastern side of the state. There are none on the western side of the state, with a few sprinkled in the middle. None of the larger counties here in eastern Iowa established a commission and haven’t really done anything with their pioneer cemeteries.”

Other counties in northeast Iowa that have pioneer cemetery commissions are Winneshiek, Chickasaw, Clayton, Buchanan, and Delaware.

With two decades of hard work under their belts, the commission continues to discover and restore pioneer cemeteries in Fayette County. If you have an interest in becoming a member or volunteering with the Fayette County Pioneer Cemetery Commission, please contact Steve Story at (563) 380-8317.