Local cemetery celebrates 35 years of luminaries’ tradition
In late November 1989, William Deck told John Dill about a small hilly cemetery in Western Pennsylvania that placed luminaries around the grounds each Christmas Eve.
The luminaries were placed around the cemetery, so the families of the deceased knew that their loved ones had not been forgotten. The idea was to help brighten the spirits of the people who came to the cemetery that evening as well as the cemetery itself.
Deck and Dill met while working at Dayton Power and Light, and when Dill became the treasurer of David’s Cemetery, he convinced Deck to purchase two burial spaces at the cemetery.
Dill thought the luminaries would be an innovative idea and presented the idea at the next David’s Cemetery board meeting.
During the board meeting on Dec. 5, 1989, the idea was approved. That year, the cemetery placed 600 luminaries. At the time, the cemetery purchased 600 new one-gallon milk jugs for $150 from Borden Dairy, 600 plumbers’ candles for $193.50 from Pickrel Plumbing, 5.7 tons of sand for $133.75 from Hilltop Sand Resources and two utility knives and blades for $8.49.
Now, the event has exploded in size and assembles about 4,600 luminaries beginning the day after Thanksgiving. They are placed before sunrise every Christmas Eve morning. As dusk approaches, a second wave of helping hands arrive to light the luminaries.
“This beautiful display would be impossible without the hard work and dedication of our community volunteers, staff and Board of Trustee members,” Stephen D. Hopkins, David’s Cemetery superintendent, said in a recent newsletter. Hopkins is celebrating 50 years of service to the cemetery in 2024, as well.
“Every family that drives the candlelit roads deeply appreciates the dedication of everyone involved,” he adds.
Terri Schimer, marketing coordinator for David’s Cemetery, shares that part of the idea of luminaries is to honor those buried at the cemetery.
“Particularly at the holidays, it honors everyone buried here and brings people into the cemetery and it’s quite breathtaking,” Schimer says. “If there’s ever snow, it’s just amazing.”
While marketing for a cemetery may seem challenging, Schimer shares that they don’t look at it as morbid, but as necessary. “We try to make it as stress free as we can,” she adds.
Because of the cemetery’s commitment to celebrating life, Schimer thinks that people are “pleasantly surprised” after having a meeting with the cemetery or after visiting the luminaries event. “They come in here with dread and they leave here with relief,” she says.
The cemetery will begin assembly of the luminaries, which are made using milk jugs, candles and sand, after Thanksgiving, and community members are welcome to volunteer to set them out on Christmas Eve.
