History...

The Old Settlers Cemetery is a special place where Washington State pioneer settlers were buried as early as 1855 according to one account. There is very little information available concerning burial records. According to Fred Morley of Piper-Morley Funeral Home in Tacoma, there is no official Sexton of this old pioneer settler cemetery. Its stewards are descendants of the families buried there, church, school and community service groups, individuals who have been taken in by its charm and tranquility, and an unknown core of county employees who mow the lawn periodically. Apparently most of the burials that have taken place here were done quite simply and perhaps unofficially as there are no burial records kept by any agency or organization according to the research available. The land was originally donated by an attorney by the name of Frank Clark. He donated the land for free burial of pioneers and their descendants in the mid 1800's.

Five generations of my ancestors have been laid to rest here and I have recently added my father's ashes next to my mother's and placed a family marker, made by Quiring Monuments of Seattle, WA, that tells a story of our family history. Dave Quiring graciously offered his company's services to repair some of the damaged and vandalized markers. I have visited this cemetery over most of my lifetime and consider it a kind of "home." It's a place I can always stop in and visit, just like you would a favorite relative, and consequently, I've taken a personal interest in seeing to it's care and upkeep beyond the minimum provided by the County.

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Cousins Chuck and Elsie Ross have been tireless in their care of our family area and more for many years. Their daughter Karly and her family have also contributed in a major way. Her husband Mike and three sons, Clark, Brent and Curtis came out on May 17th and did a major clean-up of the area where our ancestors reside. I hope to raise community awareness for the need of care on a routine basis and plan to organize two or three care days on an annual basis, primarily on the Saturday before Memorial Day, and I'm open for suggestions for the other two days. I'll keep this webpage updated with that information as it becomes available.

In the process of organizing the May 17, 2003 event I came across a number of people and groups who have contributed time in the past to the upkeep and care of this cemetery. I have heard stories about the time some PLU students vandalized the cemetery and then were assigned to it's caretaking as restitution. Boy Scout troops, local churches and individuals have taken on this treasure of a cemetery as community service projects over the years. I would like to thank them for all their efforts and plan to write a book about the history of the cemetery and all the poeple and groups that have contributed to it's maintenance over the years.

From Quiring (left to right in the photo below) came Dave Quiring, MartyDessen, Jeff Russell, Mary Gerken, John Quiring, Ron Jansen and Dave Erho. THANK YOU ALL! What a difference you made...the ancestors are singing! Monuments that had been toppled, sunken and tilted over time now sit straight and proud. This is certainly Good Feng Shui for the cemetery. It was such a pleasure to observe all of you at work. I couldn't be more impressed with your skills and sincerity. You are also a very fun group of people to know. You honor me and my family by the work you have done here. You honor the ancestors laid to rest here and all their descendants.

I hope to have this grid populated with accurate plot cross-referencing by the end of the summer 2004. If you wuld like to participate in this project, please contact flora@salishdesigner.com for more information.