Last Message to the World

One of my favorite places to wander is the Salt Lake City Cemetery. My dad, James A. Owen is buried there as well as many other family ancestors.

Salt Lake City Cemetery was only 13 years old when Issac Chase was buried there.

Isaac Chase was the first convert to the LDS faith in the Weiss family line. He is buried in the "old" part of the Salt Lake City Cemetery on a crest overlooking the valley.

This is Salt Lake City Chase Family marker is identical to the urn at the Centerville Cemetery.

Joseph Smith said, 

"The place where a man is buried is sacred to me."  

When I walk in cemeteries, I sense that sacredness.

The Croft headstones are in need of repair. 

Croft family cemetery in Enterprise, Utah.

One of the great things about living in Utah is being able to visit these pioneer ancestors' "resting places".   Now that I better know their stories, the visits mean even more to me.

 We found the Enterprise "Croft" Family Cemetery after quite a search.  Bordered by an old white fence, it will be a great family service project to one day sand and paint that rusting fence.

Heber City Cemetery where nearly everyone is related.

When I was first learning about my Moulton ancestors, the Heber City Cemetery was a wonder to me.  There were so many of my ancestors buried there that I couldn't keep them straight in my mind!  When my family would go there with me, we would often do crayon "rubbings" of the engravings to remember these faithful pioneer family members.  My Aunt Betty Montgomery would say, "Be careful what you say here, because nearly everyone is somehow related!"

We actually have one headstone in our backyard!  When Simon Weiss' wife died, we replaced the headstone with the names of Simon and Claire Weiss on one stone, and the old headstone ended up at his son's and now his grandson's backyard.

Located in our backyard, people sometimes wonder of we have someone buried there!  In Judaism, the star of David represents divine protection. 

Logan City Cemetery is also a great place to walk and contemplate the lives of those who have gone before me.  Having lived in Logan for 6 years, I now have many dear friends who are laid to rest there.  I used to think it was kind of weird that my mom and my aunt would take the Deseret News mostly to read the obituaries.  Now I better understand.

Logan City Cemetery monument.

Logan City Cemetery "Weeping Lady" at the Cronquist Family site.

One of the nicest Utah cemeteries is the Centerville, Utah Cemetery where many in my husband's family is buried. George Ogden Chase's descendants apparently had two identical urns made and one stands in the Salt Lake City Cemetery where "Father Isaac Chase" family is buried and the other in Centerville where the George Ogden Chase family is buried. 

Salt Lake City Cemetery-Isaac Chase Family Plot.

Centerville Cemetery-George Ogden Chase family plot, Memorial Day 2014.

David Simon Weiss' headstone shows his love of sailing, Boy Scouts of America, and his Jewish heritage.

Centerville Utah Cemetery, George Ogden Chase burial plot with his great great grandson, MarkWeiss.

When we are in Portland, Oregon, it is always a beautiful drive to visit the "last resting place" of Marilyn Ballegooie Weiss, my mother-in-law, in the old "Riverview Cemetery."  It overlooks the Willamette River and you can even see our Sellwood LDS chapel from her burial plot.

D. Kelly Ogden wrote a Meridian Magazine article in 2014 recording his observations about the engravings on over 122,000 souls are buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.  There were lessons both humorous and serious to be learned from his study.

For example, "Rise and Shine" is carved on one marker.  He wrote: "Let's analyze this one for a moment.  We will rise, but will we shine?  We will all rise from the darkness of the grave to the most exquisite light.  How much light you rise to, and how much you will shine, you are deciding by how you are living right now, day by day."   http://ldsmag.com/one-final-message

Christine with the "Christmas Box Angel" in Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Christine Weiss in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

Many common expressions are carved in stone, including:  "In loving memory of..." and "Sacred to the memory of..." and "Gone, but not forgotten."  It is sobering to consider one's mortality.  It is perhaps the reason there is a special spirit in all cemeteries.  Someone once said, "Death is not a period, but a comma in the story of life." It is a wonderful thing to have a place to seriously contemplate the eternal nature life.  

Weiss Family members are found the Montefiore Congregation Jewish Cemetery, right by the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

One of the scriptures frequently engraved was 3 John 1:4:
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." That was one of my dad's favorite verses.   James Owen's father, Ralph E. Owen, died at age 43.  Ralph's youngest son, James, was only 7 years old.  I'm sure that my father, upon visiting his father's burial site in Lincoln, Nebraska, would feel  deep emotions.  James tried to bring joy to his father by "walking in truth". 

My grandfather is buried in a Lincoln, Nebraska Cemetery.  The photo of his headstone was easily found using "Findagrave.com".

Headstone symbolism makes visiting a cemetery even more interesting.  An open book might represent the Bible, faith or "The Book of Life."

A dove symbolizes the Holy Spirit and a soul at peace.  In Judaism, the dove is a symbol of peace.

Drapes represent sorrow, mourning, and a veil between heaven and earth.

An urn was especially popular in the 19th century and is often draped.

Clasped hands could mean farewell, a welcoming into heaven, or a symbol of marriage.

Hands pointing up could signify the pathway to heaven or heavenly reward.

A star could represent divine guidance or birth, or light shining in darkness, or good overpowering evil.  In Judaism, the star of David represents divine protection. 

The lamb may signify innocence, purity or the grave of a child.  It is also a Christian symbol referring to Jesus Christ. 

On my parents headstone you will find their names, the dates of their "coming and going" plus their marriage date in the Salt Lake City temple.  The temple is a symbol of "forever families" and eternity.  It is our "gateway to eternity".  On the back are carved the names of their children "sealed" to them in an eternal family.

Owen headstone in Salt Lake City Cemetery.

My name is carved with that of my siblings on the back of my mom and dad's headstone.

Teresa's son is named "Chase".  So is her grandfather Hyrum "Chase" Moulton.

 The Owen headstone is behind her.

Someday I will have to choose what I want carved onto my headstone.  One final message from mortality carved permanently into stone that will hopefully inspire my descendants.  I plan to come up with a brief message of everlasting importance.

As D. Kelly Ogden wrote: "If you were to decide on a single phrase, or a single idea, to represent your whole mortal life--what would it be?"  (http://ldsmag.com/one-final-message/)

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When you go to the SL City Cemetery, look for this inspirational monument.

Resurrection of 11 year old Matthew Stanford Robison, d. 1999.

"And then it shall come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow”.