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Mausoleum Cleanup Explained

• The Catholic Cemeteries Association

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 This episode features a conversation with Director of Cemeteries, Andrej Lah, about the recent mausoleum deep cleaning—addressing questions from families and explaining the purpose behind this important maintenance effort. 

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SPEAKER_00:

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to CC Airwaves. Today I am joined by Andre La, Director of Cemeteries at the Catholic Cemeteries Association. In October, the crypt and niche fronts in the mausoleums were professionally cleaned at all our cemetery locations. This was an important process to ensure our sacred spaces remained clean, safe, and respectful. However, we know that this cleanup raised some questions and concerns among family who visited and decorated these areas. So today we're here to talk with Andre about what the mausoleum cleanup involved and why it was necessary. So, Andre, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm good, Paige. How are you?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm doing good. It's uh really cold now. The weather has definitely taken a turn. Uh it's about to be November 15th as we record this. So, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

It's that time of year.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, if you grew up in Northeast Ohio, this is just par for the course. I mean, it's just what happens.

SPEAKER_00:

So I know. And it's very unfortunate. I'm not a cold weather person, but I am living in Ohio, so I should be used to it.

SPEAKER_01:

You you uh really never get used to it, but it's just something you learn to live with.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. So, Andre, can you tell me a little bit more about the mausoleum cleanups?

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell Well, you know, Paige, uh a long time ago, uh 20 years, um it was the last time we did a major uh removing everything, cleaning up everything. I mean, what we do now is every six months we have a crew that comes in and they'll wipe things down, they'll clean up and they'll do what's not what's you know what they can. Um but the problem is that um a lot of the bouquets, some of them had been there since the last cleanup 20 years ago. So when uh when the uh the field guys asked me to kind of take a look at the mausoleums, they were pointing out a lot of these older and and just you know um worn uh decorations than you know, especially in the inside, there were a lot of the bouquets that had uh bugs, and again, they're not live flowers, so but uh they still there are a lot of bugs and spiders and spider webs, and just you know, it was really difficult to clean. Um and so in July, uh early July, they asked uh if they could begin the process of just removing everything. And I, you know, obviously you can't just start to remove things, you have to give people time to prepare. And and I I understand the importance of decorations to families. Um you know, so we wanted to make sure that everybody had an opportunity to come in and and pick everything up and you know, before we did the mass cleanup. Um I I think the way we handled it was as best as we could when you consider the you know, 750,000 people buried in our cemeteries, 21 locations. Um you know, off the top of my head, I can't think of how many mausoleums we have, but there's a lot. And uh so you know, you you start to realize that you really have to take your time to make sure that people have plenty of notification because they do, they put special things on there, they put photographs, they put mementos, they you know, um they put cards. They put rosaries. And they put rosaries, yes. And and so, and and rosaries that are special. They may have been given at a special event or whatever. And and so you really have to be careful as much as possible to ensure that you're you know protecting the things that people leave behind. As far as the silk flowers and things are concerned, you know, I by notifying people that they were being removed, anything that's left behind, you kind of just take the approach that, well, you know, we gave people plenty of notice, there should be uh they they should have been you know able to have the time to remove them. Um we certainly are not callous about it. We certainly understand uh the importance of these decorations. We understand that some of these bouquets are are custom made, they're made with love, and and so we s we you know we respect that. And and I don't, you know, that's I guess the thing that I discovered when I was talking to some people is that you know some people felt that we were just you know so casual about their their decorations and that you know in some respects maybe the word callous came out, and and that is the furthest thing from the truth. I mean, we really do you know we really do understand how important these things are. You know, when you when a mom is visiting her daughter's crypt, um you know the pain that that mom is feeling uh or the dad visiting the child, uh a child's crypt. You know, I the one that comes to mind is the one at Holy Cross, but I mean I there are so many more so many uh where parents come and visit family members or children visit parents and and you know it's important and and they um and it it's very emotional, and I get that. Um and so we really tried to uh make sure that we gave plenty of notice. We did the uh the newsletters, we did the email blast. And when you have 70,000 emails on your on your website, on your list, you know, you have a you you figure you have a pretty good shot of getting as many people as you can. Um we had physical signs at the locations and we had signs up, we had flyers up, it was on social media. Yes, it was on social media. So I really uh I really think we tried our best to give people plenty of notice to remove the items. And on top of that, um, you know, in July when the guys asked me, can we start, I I was it was adamant that we could not do it until um we had a couple of months of notice. And so that's why the notices started going up at the end of July, 1st of August, and and we're up for two months. And even when the guys were looking at me at the end of September, I said, absolutely not, we cannot begin until October 1. And I think one location was up was ready to get started, and I said, absolutely not, not until October 1st, because that is what we informed our families of.

SPEAKER_00:

And we really wanted to make sure that they had the opportunity to collect whatever was important to them.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. I think people sometimes don't realize or or just assume that because we you know we remove things, that we just we we have no feelings about it. Where, well, we're just, you know, or or that we're just you know that we're being mean or whatever. But that's uh that's not it at all. But you know, you have to manage, you know, you have to manage all aspects of a cemetery. And and that includes at some point removing decorations that have been there for a long time are falling apart. And I get it, yeah, we removed a lot of uh decorations that are in good shape. But you know, that uh people want to have a clean space to go visit their loved ones. And so that was important that we that we really kind of went through and did a mass cleanup and and kind of almost like start from scratch, because we couldn't we we tried over the over the years to clean around the decorations, but that that's hard to do. So at some point, yes, someone has to make the hard decision, that being me, that uh, okay, let's just do it and let's get it done and and uh take and and I knew I was gonna take a hit. I knew I was gonna get a lot of calls. I told the staff at all our locations to, you know, if anybody is um, you know, concerned or if they have uh, you know, if they want to complain to somebody or if they want to yell at somebody, um just give them my cell phone number. And I did. I took I took a lot of calls and I'm willing to do that because I know how important um I I know how important it is for us to maintain our cemeteries and for us to provide people with a clean and safe uh place to visit. And I also understand how important those decorations are to families. And I think that that you know families should understand that we really do uh respect their uh, you know, what they what they bring to the cemetery. We respect uh the fact that they love their their their you know, they love the people that are here and that that love continues. So I don't want I don't want anybody to think somehow or another that we're just you know we just don't care. I mean that's the furthest thing from the truth.

SPEAKER_00:

So in general, what is the challenge of balancing the upkeep of the mausoleums with the families wishes to decorate or personalize their loved ones uh area?

SPEAKER_01:

Aaron Powell Well, I mean, you know, people will tape things to the to the crypt fronts, which damages the crypfronts. Um they will, you know, they then they people will put bouquets that are oversized, which then um interferes with their neighbor's crypt, and so that becomes an issue. Uh and and just, you know, you're trying to balance the emotional connection that people have with their loved ones with the need to manage uh a cemetery operation and the daily, the you know, the daily work that we have to perform. And to, you know, make sure that burials are are performed in a in a proper manner, make sure the buildings are in good shape, make sure their roads are plowed, make sure that you know things are taken care of so people can visit. So you're trying to balance the emotions that people feel, rightly so, uh for the loved ones that are buried here, and the ongoing operations of a of an active cemetery.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. I remember we talked about this when we were recording a video a few months ago, which would be available online in a few months, about how it's hard to balance all of this at the same time.

SPEAKER_01:

So it really is. And I mean, and and I think the most uh I think what I would really and the reason I wanted to do this this morning was to really let people know that, you know, I know how important this stuff is. And and I know how important, you know, when you when when a daughter a daughter spends time making, you know, a special bouquets for, you know, for her parents, or or a son who builds something special out of, you know, and spends time to make it, you know, so it's unique. Um bec and or a father, uh, uh, you know, another son who to looked at me and said, This is what my mother wanted, and I was determined to make sure that she got it. And you so you do you you you really do understand um the importance of these items. You know, most people may look at that and say, Oh my god, it's just a silk bouquet. Yeah, but it was made especially for that situation or for that for that person. And and you just, yeah, you just um that's I think that's the most important thing. I want people to understand that we we're a Catholic cemetery. We are a ministry of the Catholic Church. And and because of that ministry, we always, every decision is made with that ministry in mind. That you know, we understand that emotional connection uh to our loved ones. And so for anyone to to believe that somehow or another we're just we don't care is is completely wrong.

SPEAKER_00:

And how has the feedback from this year changed how we're gonna approach it in the future?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think uh you know the only thing I would do differently is maybe uh you know an extra month or two of notifications. That's all I mean. Other than that, I think we did everything that we possibly could do. Um maybe just a little bit more time. You know, at that moment I felt that two months was enough. Um because of the late the the midsummer um notif you know conversation that I had with the field staff, I you know, I knew that we needed time to get notices out. And so at that point we had just over two months. And then um on I knew that October was a good month to clean because you're still uh you're still the temperatures, the weather is still decent so that you can get in there and and really do a cleanup. And then November 1 is the winter decoration season, so that you know at that point it's impossible to do anything. So you're really you know, you're really threading the needle with regard to timing to make sure that and and with so many buildings, um it it took almost the entire month to get them all done and and to really do it properly and do it well. And when we're when I'm talking cleaning, these guys came in with lifts and and and and everything to get up. They the ceilings, the crypfronts, the tops, everything. And and now they're they're going around doing the windows because we we try to get the window, or they did the windows for Cemetery Sunday. So we truly we we really worked very hard to to provide our families with a you know beautiful cemeteries where they can they can cut. I don't I don't want families ever be to be distracted by the condition of the premises. So I want them to come in, I want the roads to be in good shape, I want them to be plowed, I want the grass to be cut. Yes, I mean we we we spend an enormous amount of time and energy on trimming headstones and and we try to get through them, but you know, you have 350,000 approximately semiter uh headstones throughout our cemeteries, and they all have to be trimmed. And you know, and you you have a short season and grass grows rather quickly. Uh and I I remember telling uh uh some or asking somebody one time, if you don't trim the edge of your driveway every time the grass is cut, how long before it grows over? Because you know, people will come in and say, You never you never trim the headstones, you never do this, you never do. Well, but we do, and we try to get through all of them at least twice a year. If we're lucky, we get a third cut. Um and and so then you know, they can't be done every week. They just can't be because there's just so many of them. And um, and so we really uh we we really our crews work very hard to make sure that we take good care of our families. And you know what, and and I did get I had some really uh wonderful phone calls that you know the people would call, they would of course they were upset, and I understand that. But once I explained to them everything, you know, I think the the the the the general idea was it would have been nice to have more notice. And so that's I think that's what the takeaway is. Just a few uh uh another month or two of of notice because you know some people don't come, you know, they don't come every week, they don't come every month. Uh some people come every day. So you're trying to balance all the different things, and that's that's the other thing. You it's just creating a balance between all the different types of people that are out there. You know, we're all very unique and we all have our different ideas and thoughts, and you know, you're trying to blend you know, 750,000 families and trying to make sure that your rules um you know that the impact is somewhat neutral, if you will. Um as Father Wright, uh who was my mentor and the director before me would always say um you know that our rules should be in f uh it's called benign enforcement. And I really appreciated what he meant with that. That we're trying to be, you know, you're we're trying to be something, you know, taking care of everybody. And and it's hard to do, but we really do try.

SPEAKER_00:

But this type of mausoleum cleanup, this was for lack of better terms, rare. We did it maybe 20 years ago, we won't do it again for another 20 years where we take down all the decorations.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh how this is uh this is I think we probably should set a schedule that every, you know, every so many years, whether it's five or ten or whatever it is, but it should be done more frequently. I think the reason that uh we waited 20 years is because I knew I knew no matter how good of a job we did notifying people, there were going to be a percentage that were not informed and or did not get the notice, and then I was going to get yelled at. Um and so I was ready for that because it happened to me 20 years ago. And I probably should have uh I should have taken the approach of getting these things cleaned up um sooner. But again, you know, you'd you don't uh number one, I don't want to get yelled at by families because we took away their decorations, but number two, I completely and totally understand the importance of those decorations to the families.

SPEAKER_00:

Is there anything else you'd like to share about the intention behind the cleanings?

SPEAKER_01:

You know, as far as intention, the the you know, the intent of the cleaning was to make sure that we removed anything that was that bugs, spider webs, things of that nature. Um when I talked to the cleaning crews, they said, yeah, there was a lot. So yeah, the intention was to do exactly that. Create a clean and safe environment for our visitors and to basically start from scratch. Let you know, people bringing in their new decorations and things of that nature, and and so that you know there aren't any bugs and there aren't any spider webs in the new stuff. So that was the intention was really to uh ensure that our mausoleum space is safe and clean.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, thank you very much, Andre, for providing the clarity. I feel like our listeners who might have been a little bit confused about why we did it and now have a better understanding on why it had to be done and why we did it the way we did. So I'd like to thank you for taking the time to join us.

SPEAKER_01:

I appreciate the time.

SPEAKER_00:

No problem. I love to give you a platform to speak on. Um and for those listening, if you'd like to stay informed about future cleanups, events, and other important updates from the Catholic cemeteries, the best way to do so is to subscribe to our e-newsletter. You can do that by clicking the link in the description below. You can also follow us on social media at Cleveland Catholic Cemeteries.

SPEAKER_01:

Can I add one thing, Paige? That was one of the things that I discovered more than anything in my phone calls is that people were not aware of our of our website or of our newsletter, and you know, uh they weren't told about it, whatever. So we've uh we've started to make sure uh make a concerted effort uh to notify our families that uh that there is a website, there is a newsletter, and be assured we do not sell your information, we do not do we we do nothing with your email other than it is an internal uh internal email that we use for our purposes. You're not gonna get thousands of emails a day from the Catholic Cemeteries Association. You'll get a newsletter once a month and maybe some special notifications of things that are happening. Um, for example, the the Moscow cleanup.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Well, thank you again, Andre, and thank you for our listeners for tuning into CC Airwaves. Have a great one.