Sharing this story from the "Morning Journal" in Lisbon, Ohio.:
"Weather, Manpower, make life difficult at Calcutta cemetery" by Jo Ann Bobby-Gilbert:
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Excerpt from news story.:
“We only have two guys. We have 17,000
graves and markers and 50 acres with two people. We try to have five
guys in the summer, but we don’t know if they’re going to stay. Nobody
wants to do it anymore. When someone quits, there’s nobody to call,” Merritt explained.
She said, “We can’t get anyone to work. It’s
mostly the salary. One worked a month, said he had enough money to buy
his games and quit. There’s a whole different mind set (among potential
employees).”
Columbiana County Memorial
Irish Ridge Rd. and Route 170
"The former 96-acre Gaston Farm along old Route 30 near Calcutta
was obtained by Columbiana County Memorial Park which was incorporated
in 1935.
Planned as a park type burial grounds without headstones, it
features stately trees, flower beds and modern roadways. The designer
was Albert R. Haenny and George Bloomgren resident engineer.
William J. Powell was president of the first trustees with
offices in the Odd Fellows Temple on Sixth St. A perpetual care fund was
established with National City Bank as insurance against neglect and
decay which sometimes overtake older cemeteries.
After fire destroyed a one-story office building at the grounds
in 1943, the stone shell was used for storage until 1973 when it was
remodeled into a chapel. Charles Bibbee, resident manager, died suddenly
in October 1973, and his was the first burial in the new chapel.
The chapel is named in honor of Earl Roush, a trustee until his death in 1993.
In the 1960s St. Aloysius Catholic Church provided 14 figurines
representing the Stations of the Cross. Later brick and stucco cubicles
were installed for figurines which had been sent from Italy to the
church where they had been displayed on the sanctuary walls for many
years.
Outlined with shrubs and lights is a huge cross laid out on the
hillside grounds and visible for some distance. A Catholic section has
been added along with a Babyland area and angel statue for infant
graves. Among various improvements over the years is a fountain at the
entrance.
Olive Wright, resident office manager since Mr. Bibbee's death, reports 9,979 graves, with burials averaging 165 annually."
