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Progress

Year-by-year progress restoring Western Heights Cemetery: grants, stone cleaning and repair, mapping, research and volunteer hours.

2023

  • Selected as one of five cemeteries for the Constellation of Living Memorials pilot program.
  • Received a $5,000 matching grant to plant native plants from the Texas Historical Foundation via Constellation of Living Memorials.
  • Headstone mapping with database and GPS locations completed by Texas Cemetery Restorations.
  • Headstone photographs, grave research, and four-source database reconciliation and merge completed by Steve and Patti Erickson.
  • Cemetery-wide Veterans Day observance reinstituted.

2024

  • A $15,000 grant from Summerlee Foundation, via Constellation of Living Memorials, allowed all stones to be professionally cleaned and their condition logged ($8,000), historical research done in preparation for Landmark status filing ($2,000), and stones to be professionally repaired ($5,000).
  • First annual Descendants Day event held.
  • Cemetery-wide Memorial Day observance reinstituted.
  • Memorial Plaza dedicated.
  • “Missing” markers rediscovered.
  • Families mapped, descendants identified and contacted.
  • 1,000 volunteer hours completed on landscaping.
  • 800+ volunteer hours completed on documentation and historical research.
  • First annual Volunteer of the Year Award presented.

2025

  • All places of birth and all causes of death researched by Peggy van Wuunik.
  • Grid section guidepost built and installed by Eagle Scout David Dwyer.
  • $600 grant received from local chapter of Native Plant Society of Texas to create monarch butterfly habitat.
  • Western Heights Cemetery Association bylaws written and Board empanelled.