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It’s the oldest cemetery in the Bay Area. Dating back to 1859, Redwood City’s Union Cemetery has weathered many a storm.
And on the afternoon of Nov. 4, 32 souls, including one from a 104-year-old woman called Auntie Lou, strolled into the 162-year-old cemetery and started picking up fallen twigs and branches. With gloves and rakes, the diverse group of volunteers restored the cemetery to an earlier version of itself.
When an atmospheric river flashed through the Bay Area on the weekend of Oct. 24, the violent winds knocked down trees, power lines and cables throughout Redwood City. The Union Cemetery’s flora was no match for the tropical storm force winds of the historic rainfall.
What was left was a flooring made of sticks, foliage and branches, so many that it was too hard to walk around, said Kathy Klebe, president of the Union Cemetery.
“We have a lot of people come and walk so we need it to be safe,” she said.
Klebe reached out to the community for help.
And Chris Sakelarios, a volunteer whom Klebe had met before at another cleanup, answered that call. Sakelarious put the word out and the community came together to help.
“I don’t really know who they all were, but they were extremely helpful and friendly,” Klebe said.
Sakelarious later told the Pulse that she considered the cleanup effort at the cemetery a success.
"My heart is always calibrated towards kindness," Sakelarios said. "Kindness is my natural way of life, not the exception. I was honored to help."
As for Auntie Lou, she said. "I helped out because it was dirty. It needs to shine for all those that pass by daily and for those who reside there for all eternity.”
According to the Union Cemetery website, 13 people who were initially buried at the site of what is now Sequoia High School were moved to the new-at-the-time Union Cemetery after Horace Hawes told the county that he did not want the dead buried under his property. As the town scurried, a committee was formed to decide the fate of the 13 bodies.
As the Union Cemetery Association was formed, committee members acquired a plot of land. And the 13 bodies were exhumed and buried – the first one being little 4-year-old Anna Augusta Douglass.
The cemetery is both a California State Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more information about the Union Cemetery, please visit its website here.
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Michelle Iracheta is the editor at the Redwood City Pulse, a local news site dedicated to providing accurate and timely news to the Redwood City community. Michelle can be reached at miracheta@rwcpulse.com, on Twitter, on Facebook, and by phone at 832-729-2105. To read more stories about Redwood City, subscribe to our daily Express newsletter on rwcpulse.com.
