Sacred Heart of Mary

Proposed Cemetery Policies

Mission Statement

To provide understanding and caring service to persons and families at a time of grief and to help in the pre-planning for a final resting place. Great effort is to be made by all parties that arrangements, cost, and regulations be not a burden to anyone. Special efforts are also to be made to keep gravesites in neat order and within the guidelines recommended by Sacred Heart of Mary Cemetery Board.

  1. Cost and Purchase of Grave Sites
  1. Price of gravesites will be $500 per gravesite for registered parishioners. All other will pay $600 per gravesite.
  2. Native American Indians originating from the Pokagon tribe of Silver Creek will continue to have free gravesites.
  3. A maximum of two gravesites will be sold to any one family unless at the discretion of the administrator there is reason for requiring more.
  4. It is prohibited to transfer titles of lots to any other person. All grave sites revert back to Sacred Heart of Mary.
  5. When purchasing one gravesite, a second gravesite or more may be reserved for no longer than six months at which time the site has to be paid for or reservation will be cancelled.
  6. The sale of gravesites will be handled by the cemetery administrator.
  7. Any special circumstances, permissions, hardships, complaints, or any requirements not in the cemetery regulation are to be acted upon by the Cemetery Committee and the administrator.
  8. The Cemetery Board will meet periodically as needed.
  1. Monuments or Markers
  1. Footing no wider than 40” from left to right.
  2. For double not wider than 68” from left to right.
  3. All markers and monuments are to have a concrete base 2” wider than stone on all four sides, flush with the ground, 1 foot.
  4. Front of stone faces west (Leach Rd).
  5. If used, stationary urns or planters must fit on base or footing.

Dowagiac City Cemetery Rules

Decorations removed by cemetery staff prior to October 3, will be placed outside, along the cemetery shed, thus allowing families to pick them up at a later date. Any decorations not picked up from the cemetery shed by the end of the year will be disposed of at that time.

Similar rules apply for fall and winter decorations. Fall decorations that are potted and anchored and placed adjacent to a stone will be permitted as of the first Monday after Labor Day until November 1st. Winter decorations may be maintained on graves from November 1st until April 1st. Decorations not removed by April 1st will be disposed of by the cemetery staff.

Type of decorations that are NOT allowed

Copings, fences, curbs, steps, structures of wood or other equally perishable material.

Glass jars, bottles, or tin cans as receptacles.

No landscaping stone or edging.

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These proposed policies will be distributed to parishioners of Sacred Heart of Mary and Holy Maternity of Mary by inclusion in the weekly bulletin.

These proposed policies will be distributed to the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi via email to Mark Pompey, MSW, Director, Department of Social Services.

There will be a public meeting on Thursday April 12, 2018 at 7pm at Sacred Heart of Mary, 51841 Leach Rd, Dowagiac.

All those who wish to have input on this matter should attend this meeting.

It is the intent of Sacred Heart of Mary to finalize these policies at this meeting.