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Pioneer graves get some TLC at headstone repair workshop By Buffy Pollock Updated: Oct 20, 2022 02:09 PM A A 7 View all photos Brandan Hull brushes debris off a headstone Saturday after volunteers leveled it and glued it back together. A small band of volunteers threw on their work boots and old clothes Saturday and spent half the day tending to the final resting places of some former Rogue Valley residents who “reside” at the historical Central Point Cemetery. Graveyard and headstone repair gurus from the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery, Dirk Siedlecki and John McGlothlin, gave some basic instruction in leveling and repairing old headstones. With decades of deferred maintenance, a handful of acts of vandalism and natural ground shifting over the past century, the old graveyard along Hamrick Road offered plenty of opportunity for teaching some vital skills to the eager band of helpers. The city recently took ownership of the cemetery, originally managed by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and later handed off to the local Masonic lodge when an aging membership could no longer keep up. To be sure, some overgrown trees and crumbling stones lent a definite Halloween aura for volunteers despite a balmy October weekend. Saturday’s workshop was the second how-to class on headstone repair, an attempt to carefully erase, in most cases, 100 or more years of damage from weather, vandalism and other elements of time. A pair of stones included on Saturday’s repair list, tucked toward the back of the property adjacent to the Oregon Fallen War Heroes Memorial, belonged to brothers Simeon and Daniel P. March. Two of nine children born to pioneers John Jefferson March and Mary Polly Ann Stice, the brothers died as young adults, eight years apart in the 1880s. Daniel’s stone had broken in pieces and was lying on the ground while Simeon’s stone had leaned so far forward it was ready to collapse. Having been placed there over 140 years ago, Feb. 17, 1881, Daniel’s stone was in surprisingly good condition despite the break. McGlothlin said he and Siedlecki prefer to start small with new recruits, focusing on carefully leveling gravestones and conducting more simple repairs, such as a break along a seam rather than multiple breaks in the middle or around the edge of a stone. “Tho’ lost to sight, to memory dear,” read Daniel’s stone; family members more than a century ago likely thought the stone would remain in pristine condition for centuries. After working alongside volunteers to slowly level the stones using long rods, then adding gravel mixture, McGlothlin chatted about types of epoxies while Seidlecki sat on the ground mixing two substances together as McGlothlin touched on safety. “We try not to be putting on glue in 105-degree days,” McGlothlin explained. “We like it to be in the 80s, at least, before we do glue. But on the really hot days, we have to go out early because there can be a chemical reaction. … The materials will actually start to smoke. You definitely don’t want that.” McGlothlin explained the substances have to be “softer than the stone” but noncorrosive to the various types of stone and rock used in old cemeteries. “This stuff has got some properties that make it good for this work we’re doing here. It’s strong bonding glue, but not harder than the stone when it cures up. We need it to be brittle, too” he explained. “What you’re hoping for is, say you’ve got a broken stone and you’re gluing it back together again. We want it to where, if somebody comes along and they break it again, it’ll break along the old break line, where the glue is. That’s much more repairable than having a new break line. … We don’t want to leave it worse off than when we tried to help.” Alicia Van Riggs, who lives nearby, eagerly signed up to help in whatever way she could. “I signed up for all of the things. I’m excited to be out here. We moved to Central Point a year ago, and we live nearby, so this is a special place for our family. We’re excited to get involved,” she said. “It feels almost like we’re stewards of this land. I have distant ancestors buried in the Dakota territories that I don’t think we have relatives who are keeping up their gravestones, so I feel like this is a way to honor my own ancestors by taking care of other peoples’ family who have passed.” Another neighbor, local doctor Brandan Hull, listened intently as McGlothlin explained the repair process. Hull knelt down to help clear debris from the cracks of one of the stones. A lover of genealogy and family history, Hull said helping with the old graveyard was “an opportunity to respect our ancestors and pay tribute to them.” “I know it’s been challenging to keep up on the maintenance of such a big project, so I’m really glad the city has asked for help and organized some community volunteers. We’ve come multiple times over the years to just do cleanup,” he said. “It can be pretty overwhelming. You come cut down the weeds, and they grow right back. Having the city organize volunteers, to kind of adopt a small section, you can come in and take care of a little part and feel like it’s making some difference.” City parks planner and cemetery manager Dave Jacob said he was pleased with Saturday’s turnout and grateful for McGlothlin and Siedlecki, who had been out various times on their own to conduct more complex repairs. In addition to the handful of stones leveled and/or repaired, the crew shifted some fallen, or nearly fallen stones, laying them safely on the ground to wait their turn to be fixed. Hull said it felt good to see gravestones placed over a century ago be restored. “You have to think, they died in the 1880s. People probably rode horses through here or up the Table Rocks. A lot different than today,” he said. “The stones were all wampus and tilted, but we were able to reset the clock a little bit.” Seidlecki offered a nod of approval. “That’s the key,” he said. “You want it to look like we were never here. We want people to come in and say, ‘Boy, it’s in great shape.’” Siedlecki and McGlothlin said passing their skills onto others was the only way to ensure the old graveyards around the valley could withstand another century of weather, shifting ground or whatever else comes along. “When the two of us quit doing it, unless we get people willing to learn and pass on those skills, that’s it,” McGlothlin said. “Dirk is really the locomotive who pulls the train, and he’s in his 70s. It’s hard to get people interested in this kind of stuff, so it’s nice to see these volunteers out here today.” McGlothlin said there was a sense of satisfaction in caring for “those who were here before us.” “When you go back, it’s like somebody who built a house. They drive by and see a family living there, and it feels good. It’s neat to walk back through and remember, ‘Hey, I fixed that; I helped put that back together,’” he said. To sign up to volunteer at the cemetery, contact Jacob at [email protected] or 541-423-1012. Cemetery records are available online at centralpointoregon.gov/parksrec/page/central-point-cemetery Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 541-776-8784 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal. Volunteer David McFadden and workshop facilitator Dirk Siedlecki work to steady a section of headstone while volunteer Brandan Hull prepares to add gravel beneath the stone. [Photo by Buffy Pollock] Volunteers replace and secure the top portion of a headstone after adding epoxy between two of the pieces. [Photo by Buffy Pollock] Volunteers David McFadden and Brandan Hull work to ensure the top half of a gravestone is level before adding epoxy, as workshop facilitator Dirk Siedlecki adjusts the bottom of the stone. [Photo by Buffy Pollock] Dirk Siedlecki applies an epoxy mix between two headstone pieces while volunteer David McFadden holds the top of the stone in place. [Photo by Buffy Pollock] Volunteer David McFadden repositions a portion of a broken headstone while volunteer Alicia Van Riggs guides the pieces together. [Photo by Buffy Pollock] Volunteers Brandan Hull and Alicia Van Riggs listen as Dirk Siedlecki explains how to clear debris between two pieces of stone after glueing the pieces back together. [Photo by Buffy Pollock]