Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Have I Got A Gravesite For You!" Story

It as an ordinary day. Doing some research on the burial plots that I found that I have evidently inherited from my mom and dad when they died. Seems that they inherited them from my dad's mom and now I am stuck with them. Why so gloom? I have no idea what to do with them. My "Nannan" (grandmother) purchased a piece of ground known as lot No. 138 in Riverview Burial Park in the southeast of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Lot No. 138, as per survey of the said Riverview Burial Park, contains eight graves, together with all the privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging, and every part and parcel thereof, was purchased by Mrs. Grace Woods on April 26, 1926 from the Riverview Burial Park Association. She paid $117.50 for the eight gravesites. I had no idea what appurtenances meant so I "googled" it and found that it meant: an incidental right (as a right-of-way) attached to a principal property right and passing in possession with it. Help any? Well, I assume that Nannan bought Lot No. 138 in 1926 in order to bury her husband Joseph whom I never had the honor to meet. My granddad died in an industrial accident at the Lancaster Post Office where he worked. He was 42 years old when he died and my dad, his son, was only 6 years old at the time. Pretty tough on my Nannan, since she had four young children who now had no father. In a file folder that was among the remains of my mom and dad's belongings I found the deed to the burial sites as well as another letter from the Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home that had a small drawing showing the sites with numbers on them. In grave #6 is buried my Nannan who died in 1974, in grave #5 is my grandfather Joseph and in grave #7 is my uncle Clair, my dad's brother, who died in an automobile accident in 1931 when he was 16 years old. Nannan must have been a saint to have been able to survive all the tragedies she had at such a young age. Also enclosed in the file folder were two notices that were placed in the Lancaster Newspaper notifying owners in the Conestoga Memorial Park and the Riverview Burial Park to contact a number to update their records. Dad had written the date Feb. 10, 1987 on the one and 2-21-03 on the other. He always dated everything that he read and kept for his files. Thanks, dad! And then I also found receipts for the headstone that Nannan had purchased for the gravesite. That cost more than all eight gravesites with a price tag of $180.00. Looking through history is interesting, but now to my dilemma; what do I do with these gravesites? Carol and I have burial rights in the cemetery of our historical churchyard in downtown Lancaster where my mom and dad are interred. My brother had no interest in the sites and I didn't know what to do with them so I called the number listed on the one notice from the graveyard. They asked me who purchased the sites and after I told them, they asked if my father had any brothers and sisters. My dad had the brother that was deceased and two sisters. I was told that any children they might have would also be entitled to the sites. My Aunt Doris married and had three step-children and I was told they don't count, since they are not blood relations. So I guess my Aunt Lillian's two children, my cousins Judy and George, would also have the right to them. Made a call to both and neither one cared to have them, so I was free to do with them what I wanted. I am hoping that my church will be able to accept them and pass them on to needy families who may care to have them. Just going to have to be some legal procedures in order to donate them to the church. Soon there may be some strangers visiting in the cemetery with my Nannan, Grandfather and Uncle. Hope all goes well. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.