Mausoleum rule changes upset relatives

By ASHLEY SCHREYER

aschreyer@njherald.com

NEWTON A recent change in rules regarding adornments left at the mausoleum at Saint Josephs Cemetery on Route 206 have upset some relatives of those laid to rest there.

First announced through a metal sign planted in the ground at the top of the driveway to the mausoleum, the cemetery will no longer allow flowers, pictures or other additions at the mausoleum, which contains approximately 430 single and double-crypts. Furthermore, paper signs taped to the inside of the mausoleum doors instruct visitors to please remove all artificial flowers, flower boxes, vases, pictures and other adornments by July 15.

Multiple attempts were made by the New Jersey Herald since June 24 to speak to Father Brian Sullivan, without success. During one phone call, Office Manager Anne Lundgren said the rule was made in an effort to keep the mausoleum maintained and then referred the conversation to Sullivan, who was away.

Messages were also unreturned by the communication office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, of which Saint Josephs is a parish.

Dee Sheldon, of Newton, first noticed the new rule sign during the week of Fathers Day in mid-June, according to Maureen McHale, also of Newton, who Sheldon had notified. The sign was not there on June 24 when a New Jersey Herald photographer went to photograph it. As of July 2, paper signs were placed inside the mausoleum doors that said the removal of items was in order to maintain the appearance of our mausoleum.

Its hurtful. Its very hurtful, Maureen Block, McHales daughter, said. At her fathers crypt, she has a framed ceramic photo of her parents, made specifically for crypts, that was placed six or seven years ago. The photo had cost $347 and Block had gotten permission from a former pastor at Saint Josephs.

McHale and Sheldon reached out to half a dozen friends they had met through the mausoleum, or knew had family in the mausoleum, to notify them of the change, according to McHale.

When McHale called Sullivan in regard to the permanent photo that had been placed, she was told it, too, had to be removed.

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Mausoleum rule changes upset relatives