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| Introduction |
The Pioneer Memorial Gardens index lists individuals interred at the Pioneer Memorial Gardens in Wheeler, Grant County, Washington. Index information about an individual may include name, birth date, birth place, death date, and names of family members. Index data was compiled by Maggie Rail, a member of the Washington State Cemetery Association who has transcribed over 400 cemeteries since 1993.
Pioneer Memorial Gardens is located at Lat: 47° 06' 58"N, Lon: 119° 10' 46"W, T19N R28E Section 28. There are 1,720 individuals listed in this index. This index is in English. This index is open for research. Abbreviations used in this index: b. = born c/o = child of d. = died d/o = dau of FH = funeral home m. = married s/by = stone by s/o = son of s/w = stone with w/o = wife of * = I have a photo [BL] = per Beth Lee GDes = Garden of Deseret GDev = Garden of Devotion GHC = Garden of Holy Cross GMd = Garden of Meditation GM = Garden of Memories Gr = grave Transcribed by Maggie Rail, Nov 16, 2005, last edited Nov 25, 2010. Transcription Notes: “From I-90 driving west as you are entering the Moses Lake area, take the Wheeler turnoff, turning right onto Wheeler Rd NE and continue to Wheeler. Turn right or south onto Road O for one mile, then turn right or west onto Road 2NE. The cemetery is on the south side of the road. Be sure to get permission at the office first before entering the cemetery.” “Pioneer Memorial Gardens was established in 1905, it was a one acre City Cemetery, then it was deeded to the Oddfellows in the 1950s who expanded it to about 9 acres, and in 2001 it was purchased by the Benson Family who are expanding it again. - per Susan Benson.” “I tried to physically read this cemetery when I visited it on Jul 17, 2005, and was told to remove myself from the property and was unable to gain permission from the owner to return to the cemetery. One must obtain permission to enter this cemetery from the main office and I was told I needed to have a family member buried there to visit.” “In my frustration I did some research, trying to find at least some of those buried here. My main source being the Grant County Genealogy Society, who allowed me to re-publish records they have in their library. These records included work done by Shane Palmer to earn his Eagle Scout degree in 1990.” “After transcribing from those I compared with other records, such as from Social Security records, obits and other public records. Thus I did not copy totally from any one source, and all are previously published records, and not taken by me from the cemetery. “ “Listings with an asterisk are those I do have a photo of. Some photos are not good, since the area I was in had very poor stone care. Some stones were buried under grass, others covered with lichen etc. They mow the lawn, but there is not much care around or of the stones.” “I was warned of this when I was reading other Grant County cemeteries, but I really did not believe it could be true, after all the hundreds of cemeteries I have read. Later I find out there have been demonstrations at this cemetery, carried out by the neighboring townspeople, according to the local newspapers and law enforcement office. Also it is said that some have removed their loved ones from this cemetery to another cemetery, because of the new business practices and no freedom to visit the burial sites. It would be wonderful if the townsfolk platted out land and created a new cemetery that is open to all.” “The owners, the Benson Family, do not understand that searching of names requires first knowing the name of the person who is actually buried there. Mrs Benson informed me that she is there to help anyone if you give her the name to look up. What she does not understand is that many do not have the needed information to ask her. This is one reason why I do this hard work. I am not reimbursed in any way for doing any of this transcribing.” “I am sure this record is missing many names, because older records are difficult to find, and some were never kept. I took the locations from some of the earlier work and found a couple duplicate names in different sections, so the sections possibly could be incorrect in some cases, or the person has more than one headstone.“ “This record is fairly complete up to the year 2000, with others added as I found them, but not a complete listing after that date. Entries followed by initials are names submitted to me to add to my listing from others.” Contact Information: 14403 Road 2 NE Wheeler, WA 98837-9324 509-765-6500 |
| Citation: |
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], Pioneer Memorial Gardens Index, 1905-2000, Office of Secretary of State, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://digitalarchives.wa.gov, [date accessed].
Source: Index and transcription notes donated to the Washington Historical Records Project by Maggie Rail, August 2009. |
