Fairfield Evergreen Cemetery creates endowment fund, asks public for donations

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Evergreen Cemetery Board has announced that it is creating an endowment fund for the cemetery, and needs the public’s help to allow the cemetery to perform needed maintenance on its roads and headstones.

The board has set a goal of raising $2 million to invest in the endowment fund, and the interest on this fund would go toward paying the cemetery’s ongoing expenses as well as new projects such as the creation of a new road on the cemetery’s east edge.

Evergreen Cemetery was founded in 1870 by a man named Capt. Clement Jordan, who sought to create a proper and larger cemetery in the wake of his wife’s death in 1865, because he did not feel that the existing city cemetery or “Old Cemetery” offered a suitable burial plot. In the years since, Evergreen Cemetery became Fairfield’s preeminent cemetery, and now stretches over 40 acres and contains the remains of more than 11,000 residents (including the Old Cemetery).

In its 153-year history, the Fairfield Evergreen Cemetery has always been a private, perpetual care cemetery that is not supported by taxes. The board wants to keep it that way, but it’s run into financial difficulties, and that’s why it is embarking on a fundraising campaign to create the Fairfield Evergreen Cemetery Endowment Fund.

The cemetery earns money through the sale of lots, burial services, donations, grants and a stipend from the City of Fairfield to maintain the Old Cemetery on the western edge of the acreage. However, this income is not enough to cover rising costs of maintenance. Also, revenue is down because fewer people are choosing to bury their deceased loved ones and instead are opting for cremation.

“Our expenses have gone up every year, while lot sales and grave openings have decreased,” said Evergreen Cemetery Superintendent Matt Nelson. “I think donations have decreased, too.”

Joe Hunt, President of the Evergreen Cemetery Board, speculated that donations might be done because families move around more than they did decades ago.

“When they move away from Fairfield, odds are that they will be buried in another state because that’s their new home,” Hunt said.

Judith Cox, another member of the board, said the cost of purchasing new equipment was “astronomical,” and mentioned that the cemetery’s backhoe is from around 1980.

“We can’t keep up with the repairs, and we don’t have money to buy a new one,” Cox said.

According to a brochure the cemetery produced, burials have been trending down for more than 30 years. For instance, the cemetery did 88 burials in 1990, and then 62 in 2000 and today averages about 40.

If the board hopes that by raising enough money through its new endowment fund, it will be able to continue regular maintenance such as mowing, plus tackle new projects such as righting the countless number of old headstones that have fallen over. The board also needs to set aside money to replace and maintain the two miles of drivable roads in the cemetery.

Those who wish to contribute to the cemetery’s endowment fund can send checks to Fairfield Evergreen Cemetery Endowment Fund at 510 East Stone Ave. in Fairfield, IA 52556. For further information, contact Superintendent Matt Nelson at 641-472-2509 or Ronda Whitney at 641-919-7548, or email ffevergreencem@iowatelecom.net.

The cemetery’s board consists of Joe Hunt (President), Kent Whitney (Vice President), Tim Kuiken (Treasurer), Jordan Whitney (Secretary), Judith Cox, Keagan Drish, Mary Jordan Neff and John Stever.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com

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