A not-so-grave tradition
Despite parish closing, Memorial Day provides fellowship in church cemetery
By Joanne Fox, Journal staff writer | Posted: Monday, May 29, 2006
Grave markers at the Trinity Lutheran Danish Cemetery reflect the heritage of the former church's parishioners.
GAYVILLE, S.D. -- Trinity Lutheran Danish Cemetery was deserted last Tuesday.
Nestled in the middle of rich, rural farmland, an occasional truck stirred up the dusty gravel. The southeast wind whipped the flags to a horizontal position. The cloudy, hazy morning predicted a hot, humid afternoon as the temperature pushed 80.
Regardless, Claudette Jensen and Johnnie Jepsen, longtime friends, neighbors and former cemetery association members, surveyed the final resting place of family, friends and acquaintances.
They mused about a Memorial Day tradition that will fill the cemetery with close to 150 living family, friends and acquaintances today.
Their parish and their church building may be long gone, but those with ties to the former Trinity Danish Lutheran Church have been gathering each Memorial Day to share food, beverages and fellowship -- on the cemetery's grounds.
For years, those wishing to commemorate Memorial Day would gather in the church basement after services. But when the parish closed and the church was sold and moved in 1988, some stalwart souls were not going to allow the tradition to end.
Solution?
They already had electricity for the cemetery. Why not use that outlet for a coffee pot and invite others to note the national holiday? The idea was embraced and has drawn folks from near and far to decorate the plots, share memories and become reacquainted.
The strong Danish roots are obvious in the two-acre cemetery. The Danish flag flies proudly next to the American flag. The bell and sign was salvaged from the church building. On the plaque is the statement in Danish "Gud er Kjaerlighed" which translated is "God is Great."
The names on the tombstones speak to the Danish ancestry. There's Nelsen, Petersen and ... Brandwein? Miller?
"Ah, they all think they're Danes," Jensen said with a smile. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm an import myself, a full-blooded German."
The parish was started with 55 souls in 1880 and called Trinity Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The cemetery was established in 1891 at its present site, about five miles south of the town of Gayville. However, the first burial wasn't until two years later.
A church was built in 1893 and then rebuilt in 1894 following a severe windstorm. In 1940 it was moved across the road -- actually from Yankton to Clay County -- and remodeled with a church basement, where the Memorial Day tradition was held. But with declining numbers, the decision was made in 1988 to close the parish and sell the building.
Over the years the maple trees which border the cemetery were cut down and replaced with 40 Black Hills Blue Spruce trees. The wire grate which identified the Danish cemetery was dismantled and a white, wooden fence encases the area. Now, a tombstone tells visitors what the cemetery represents.
Both Jepsen and Jensen have been actively involved in cemetery upkeep. Jepsen, who lives just a mile south of the cemetery, mowed and maintained the cemetery. Jensen's farmland was adjacent to the cemetery. She and her daughters would decorate the trees with red ribbons "until they got too big to reach."
"One year my husband Harvey remarked that he had never seen so many flowers on so many graves and we found out later our 4-year-old son Mark had 'redistributed' flowers from plots that had 'too many' to others that didn't have as much," Jensen said with a chuckle. "I remember our kids coming down here with five-gallon buckets of water and cleaning the bird poop off headstones so they would be clean for Memorial Day."
Both have loved ones buried in the cemetery and will one day be resting there as well. Jepsen pointed to some obelisk headstones.
"Those are where Harvey's great-grandparents are buried," she said, referring to her husband who died in 1991. "His dad bought plots at the other end for 10 of us."
Jensen's parents and wife, Marge, are also buried in the cemetery. He estimated that two or three burials take place each year. The last one was Nov. 11, 2005.
Jepsen seems to be the unofficial church historian, saving clippings and programs from church celebrations. On one piece of paper she wrote, "From 1880 to 1988 this little church stood as a spiritual center of the community. Members transferred to Bergen and Gayville, but the members' and friends' faith still stands strong when they gather each Memorial Day. All pray that this may continue."
Come Monday, the cemetery will have 30 flags, in rows of 10 each, to honor the memory of those who fought in war, according to Jepsen, a Korean War veteran.
"This guy and I signed up on the same day," he said, pointing to LeRoy Kaufman's name among the 30 veterans listed on a stand in front of the bell tower. "His serial number was only one off from mine."
Pausing, he added, "He's the only one who was killed in combat."
Rudolph Christensen American Legion Post of Gayville starts the ceremonies about 10:20 a.m. It's a busy day for them, as they will visit South Dakota cemeteries in Mission Hill, Gayville, Bergen and Meckling. Keeping with tradition, Glen Nelson, president of the cemetery board, will provide the coffee. However, long before any rituals start, people arrive anywhere between 8:30 and 9 a.m., Jensen said.
"We set up about three tables for food, but there's no assigned responsibilities," she said. "People bring rolls, cakes, cookies, whatever they want."
Following a 15-minute program, including Scripture readings from the American Legion chaplain, there will be the playing of "Taps" and a firing of three volleys.
And the people remain.
"It's like a homecoming," Jepsen mused.
"Even our high school kids come out to take part in the ceremonies," Jensen added. "They seem to like to hear the stories."
Joanne Fox may be reached at (712) 293-4247 or joannefox@siouxcityjournal.com
Nestled in the middle of rich, rural farmland, an occasional truck stirred up the dusty gravel. The southeast wind whipped the flags to a horizontal position. The cloudy, hazy morning predicted a hot, humid afternoon as the temperature pushed 80.
Regardless, Claudette Jensen and Johnnie Jepsen, longtime friends, neighbors and former cemetery association members, surveyed the final resting place of family, friends and acquaintances.
They mused about a Memorial Day tradition that will fill the cemetery with close to 150 living family, friends and acquaintances today.
Their parish and their church building may be long gone, but those with ties to the former Trinity Danish Lutheran Church have been gathering each Memorial Day to share food, beverages and fellowship -- on the cemetery's grounds.
For years, those wishing to commemorate Memorial Day would gather in the church basement after services. But when the parish closed and the church was sold and moved in 1988, some stalwart souls were not going to allow the tradition to end.
Solution?
They already had electricity for the cemetery. Why not use that outlet for a coffee pot and invite others to note the national holiday? The idea was embraced and has drawn folks from near and far to decorate the plots, share memories and become reacquainted.
The strong Danish roots are obvious in the two-acre cemetery. The Danish flag flies proudly next to the American flag. The bell and sign was salvaged from the church building. On the plaque is the statement in Danish "Gud er Kjaerlighed" which translated is "God is Great."
The names on the tombstones speak to the Danish ancestry. There's Nelsen, Petersen and ... Brandwein? Miller?
"Ah, they all think they're Danes," Jensen said with a smile. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm an import myself, a full-blooded German."
The parish was started with 55 souls in 1880 and called Trinity Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The cemetery was established in 1891 at its present site, about five miles south of the town of Gayville. However, the first burial wasn't until two years later.
A church was built in 1893 and then rebuilt in 1894 following a severe windstorm. In 1940 it was moved across the road -- actually from Yankton to Clay County -- and remodeled with a church basement, where the Memorial Day tradition was held. But with declining numbers, the decision was made in 1988 to close the parish and sell the building.
Over the years the maple trees which border the cemetery were cut down and replaced with 40 Black Hills Blue Spruce trees. The wire grate which identified the Danish cemetery was dismantled and a white, wooden fence encases the area. Now, a tombstone tells visitors what the cemetery represents.
Both Jepsen and Jensen have been actively involved in cemetery upkeep. Jepsen, who lives just a mile south of the cemetery, mowed and maintained the cemetery. Jensen's farmland was adjacent to the cemetery. She and her daughters would decorate the trees with red ribbons "until they got too big to reach."
"One year my husband Harvey remarked that he had never seen so many flowers on so many graves and we found out later our 4-year-old son Mark had 'redistributed' flowers from plots that had 'too many' to others that didn't have as much," Jensen said with a chuckle. "I remember our kids coming down here with five-gallon buckets of water and cleaning the bird poop off headstones so they would be clean for Memorial Day."
Both have loved ones buried in the cemetery and will one day be resting there as well. Jepsen pointed to some obelisk headstones.
"Those are where Harvey's great-grandparents are buried," she said, referring to her husband who died in 1991. "His dad bought plots at the other end for 10 of us."
Jensen's parents and wife, Marge, are also buried in the cemetery. He estimated that two or three burials take place each year. The last one was Nov. 11, 2005.
Jepsen seems to be the unofficial church historian, saving clippings and programs from church celebrations. On one piece of paper she wrote, "From 1880 to 1988 this little church stood as a spiritual center of the community. Members transferred to Bergen and Gayville, but the members' and friends' faith still stands strong when they gather each Memorial Day. All pray that this may continue."
Come Monday, the cemetery will have 30 flags, in rows of 10 each, to honor the memory of those who fought in war, according to Jepsen, a Korean War veteran.
"This guy and I signed up on the same day," he said, pointing to LeRoy Kaufman's name among the 30 veterans listed on a stand in front of the bell tower. "His serial number was only one off from mine."
Pausing, he added, "He's the only one who was killed in combat."
Rudolph Christensen American Legion Post of Gayville starts the ceremonies about 10:20 a.m. It's a busy day for them, as they will visit South Dakota cemeteries in Mission Hill, Gayville, Bergen and Meckling. Keeping with tradition, Glen Nelson, president of the cemetery board, will provide the coffee. However, long before any rituals start, people arrive anywhere between 8:30 and 9 a.m., Jensen said.
"We set up about three tables for food, but there's no assigned responsibilities," she said. "People bring rolls, cakes, cookies, whatever they want."
Following a 15-minute program, including Scripture readings from the American Legion chaplain, there will be the playing of "Taps" and a firing of three volleys.
And the people remain.
"It's like a homecoming," Jepsen mused.
"Even our high school kids come out to take part in the ceremonies," Jensen added. "They seem to like to hear the stories."
Joanne Fox may be reached at (712) 293-4247 or joannefox@siouxcityjournal.com
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