ABOVE: Lakeside Cemetery in Fairmont.

FAIRMONT– Lakeside Cemetery in Fairmont is one of the longest-established organizations in Martin County and likely the largest private cemetery in Southern Minnesota. The Lakeside Cemetery Association is now more than ever asking for the community’s support in keeping the historic site afloat.

Lakeside Cemetery officially started in 1861, though the oldest stone in it is from 1859.

“A young girl died and the man who owned the land allowed her to be buried here and it started from there,” said Paula Bulfer, the association’s treasurer.

The cemetery is comprised of 36 acres of monuments and 24 acres of farm land that the association rents out, which helps its income. To date, the cemetery is the final resting place for about 10,000 people and there it still space for about 5,000 plots.

“A lot of founding fathers of Martin County are buried out here. We have sheriffs, firefighters and some Civil War veterans. There’s a lot of history out here,” Brad Buhmann, the association’s president, said.

“A book was put out that called us the silent city. It’s interesting that the population here is almost the same as the city of Fairmont’s,” Bulfer said.

It’s not extremely common to have privately owned cemeteries as most are owned either by churches, cities or townships.

The Lakeside Cemetery Association is a non-profit. The seven board members are not paid, but the employees, which includes several part-timers who mow, are paid. Up until recently the association had a full-time manger and since their retirement, it has been looking for a new one and Bulfer has stepped in to take on those responsibilities.

Partially because of the lack of help, the association went to the Martin County Board of Commissioners several months ago and asked if the county could take over the cemetery. The board held several work session on the matter but ultimately decided not to take over the cemetery.

Bulfer said part of the reason she wanted the county to take it over was because she had someone interested in the manger position, but the association cannot offer benefits, whereas the county could have.

Another reason the association needs help is due to its expenses, the biggest being insurance, utilities and Buhmann pointed up that everything has gone up, including gas, fertilizer and grass seed.

“Just the chemicals we used for weeds last summer was $2,900,” Bulfer said.

Of course maintaining the cemetery, especially in the summer, requires two of the aforementioned areas the association is hurting in.

“It’s like 65 hours to mow the entire cemetery and when you’re mowing every week, it takes a couple of people,” Bulfer explained.

“You’re never caught up. By the time you get the compete cemetery mowed, it’s time to go back and start again,” added Buhmann.

The only way the association makes money is through plot sales, monument setting or a funeral, which includes a full burial.

The cost is $850 for a plot and a certain amount of the money needs to go into certain funds per state law. Because of this the association has a perpetual account, which is intended to help maintain the cemetery for years to come.

The only income so far for the month of November has been $500, from one cremation.

Both Bulfer and Buhmann explained that it’s hard to budget, because their income changes from month to month.

“We’re not the first cemetery to experience this type of problem, but because of our size, it’s more noticeable,” Buhmann said.

He explained that the whole culture around burials has changed. It used to be that when someone died, a service was held and they were buried within three days. Now, more people opt to hold off on funerals and hold them around holidays when more family is together. A lot more people are also opting to get cremated.

“The last year I was manager, the cremations had been more than full burials and now it’s about three-fourths cremations and one-fourth full burial,” Bulfer said.

On top of that, many people opt to keep the ashes of their loved ones at home in an urn or even scatter ashes.

“There’s less burials. People don’t want to spend the money,” Bulfer said.

Buhmann said they have done what they can to keep up with the times. The cemetery offers a mausoleum and just over a year ago it put in two columbariums which hold urns.

“We’re trying to put as many options out there for people as we can,” Buhmann said.

At the end of October, the association sent out a letter to plot owners and several other individuals, asking for donations. Because the association is a non-profit, it is a tax-deductible donation.

“No donation is too small,” Buhmann said. “We’re asking for whatever people can afford. Everything helps.”

Speaking on why they got involved with the cemetery, Buhmann said, “I have relatives buried out here. I’ve lived in town my entire life and my wife and I will be buried here. We need more people to step up and help.”

Bulfer said when she moved here, she saw in the paper that the association was hiring for a manager and she had had some experience because when she was young her father owned a greenhouse in Jackson and she helped take care of urns in the cemetery there.

“I’ve met people at a sad time in their life but I’ve mad a lot of friends and I’ve cared about them,” Bulfer said.

She said that once the article came out in the paper that the association was asking the county for help, many people contacted her, afraid that the cemetery would be abandoned.

“I had 151 phone calls to my personal phone. People were worried they wouldn’t be able to be married with their wife or husband or child,” Bulfer said.

The association has no intention of letting the cemetery become abandoned. The reason it went to the county is, because if absorbed, the county would need to operate the cemetery as it has been by state statute. As that’s not happening right now the association is instead doing what it can to stay afloat.

“In 10 years, maybe they’ll take it over, I don’t know,” Buhmann said.”Our main goal is to stay afloat and keep providing a good service.”