Happy Mother’s Day…

Calumet Park Cemetery will be available to help locate graves from 10-1 on Mother’s Day.  We are covid-conscious yet understand the importance of visiting all the mom’s who are interred at Calumet Park.  Due to the virus, we will be serving families outside of the office building.  The Mausoleum buildings, including restrooms, will be open for visitation on Mother’s Day.

A Mother’s Day story

A story that I overheard when I was just a boy has stuck with me for over 60 years.  It was the year my father died.  The world was different then, and people seemed more trusting, kind, thoughtful and loving.  The story was about a man who stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother for Mother’s Day.  His mother lived quite a distance from him, but it was always his tradition to send her flowers with a nice card.  He was a busy man, and felt that sending flowers was a good way to let his mother know that he was thinking of her on her special day.

When the man went to open the door to the flower shop, he noticed a young girl and an older boy sitting on the curb, sobbing.  He asked them what was wrong and she replied, “We wanted to buy a red rose for our mom.  We only have a quarter and roses cost one dollar each and we don’t have enough money.”

The man smiled and told them to come with him into the store and he would buy the flower and she could give him her quarter.  He bought the little girl her rose and ordered a dozen red roses for his mother.  After writing his standard “I love you” on the card to be sent to his mother, he went out of the store and saw the kids turn the corner and disappear from sight.

The man caught up to the kids and offered to give the siblings a ride home.  The little girl said, “Yes, please.  You can take us to our mother.”  She and her brother got in the car and her brother directed the man to a cemetery.  Once there, she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.  The man watched from a distance and listened to the little girl and her brother as they talked to their mom.

The man left the children, returned to the flower shop and canceled the wire order to his mother.  When asked by the flower clerk why he was canceling, he said, “Oh, I still want the flowers.  I am just canceling the wired part.  I just feel a need to give them to mom in person.”  With that, he picked up the bouquet and drove the 100 miles to his mother’s house.

The story touched me, even as a young boy.  Mothers are special, and the message I got was that the wired flowers seemed like an easy out instead of taking the time to go visit one of the most important women in any person’s life.  This year is especially hard for children of all ages to visit their mothers, whether they are going through the isolation due to the pandemic and using a smart phone, or visiting their mom’s final resting place at Calumet Park Cemetery.

As a parent of two wonderful daughters, there are no gifts that mean as much to me and to my wife as sharing time with our girls.  Gifts not needed…visits, whether via the phone, face-timing or what have you, the contact is all that is wanted.  Bless you all and Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers.  Thank you for all that you do.  You are appreciated.

From your friends at Calumet Park Cemetery, Calumet Park Funeral Chapels in Merrillville and Hobart, and Rendina Funeral Home.

 

click on pic for more info: Warm weather is coming…it just might take a few months…do not give up hope!

Mark your calendars for the 2020 Calumet Park and Rendina event schedule:

June 14 is fishing for memories free fishing event for kids of all ages at Calumet Park Cemetery

May 23 free fireworks at Calumet Park Cemetery

May 23-25 is Memorial Weekend.  Call us for complete schedule.  At the cemetery.

July 18 free live butterfly release at Calumet Park Cemetery.

September 26 is the third annual 5K walk/run.  Start getting in shape now.

October 10 is Merrillville Funeral Chapel’s annual Trunk or Treat fall festival.

October 17 is Hobart Funeral Chapels Trunk or Treat fall festival.

November 11 is our annual veteran’s day memorial service at the cemetery.

December 3 is Rendina’s Angel Tree lighting ceremony.

December 4 is Hobart’s Angel Tree lighting ceremony.

December 5 is Merrillville Funeral Chapel’s Angel Tree lighting ceremony.

Watch for more info on this site, or in our e-news letter or call for info, times and directions.

Happy New Year to all.  219-769-8803

 

 

 

 

Click here ‘Tis the season….

A moment of joy and hope…for 33 years.  Eternity in heaven given to all who accept and believe.  Merry Christmas to all.  (crosses on hill behind the mausoleum complex at Calumet Park Cemetery)  Happy New Year to all.  Thank you for letting us serve your family.

5K Run/Walk for suicide awareness will be held at Calumet Park Cemetery on September 28

You are invited to participate in Calumet Park Cemetery’s 2nd Annual Light the Darkness 5K run/walk.  Go to  http://www.runsignup.com to register  (click on Find a Race, then click on Light the Darkness, and then click To sign up).  The event will be held on September 28 at the cemetery located at 73rd and Taft in Merrillville.  Plan on arriving at 7:00 to check in and get your number and  T-shirt and be ready to run at the 8:00 a.m. starting gun.

Last year’s event had official 116 entrants with medals for 1, 2 and 3 places awarded for a number of age divisions along with trophies for the overall winner for men and for women.

The map shown is the path that the race will take for your use in the event that you would like to do some conditioning runs prior to race time.  The funds that will be raised will go to either Operation Combat Bikesaver, Inc or Path, Inc.  You may do some research on-line to see the important work that both of these groups do for suicide awareness and prevention.  If you have any questions, feel free to call 219-769-8803 and ask for Daniel Moran.

For donations, go to jasonz@combatbikesaver.org

For info on our website, go to http://mycalumetpark.com

https://runsignup.com/Race/Register/?raceId=59316

 

Veteran Memorial Service at Calumet Park Cemetery … 2019

Memorial Weekend at Calumet Park Cemetery…announcing gravefinder program for your use…

Look at previous posts as newsletter shows the schedule of events for the weekend along with many interesting stories.  For your copy of the newsletter, call or visit this Memorial Weekend as everyone through the gates will receive a copy.  Also, visit our new website at mycalumetpark.com to use the new gravefinder program.  It is very simple:   go to website, scroll down to gravefinder and follow the prompts.  All you will need to do is enter the location and you will be directed to the lot you are seeking.  The program  for the gravefinder is triggered by the location and not the name at this time.  If you are not sure of the location, stop at the office and we will get the info for you.

A special thanks to Dee Harrison for creating the gravefinder for Calumet Park.  This is a huge accomplishment as there are tens of thousands of lots that needed to be included in this program.

Have an enjoyable Memorial Weekend and remember the reason for the holiday…REMEMBERING THE PASSING OF WARRIORS FOR YOUR COUNTRY!  Call 219-769-8803 for help.

Nobody is too tough to cry….

Nobody is too tough to cry

by Daniel Moran, G.M. Calumet Park Cemetery

I turned my car onto a rutted, dirt road.  About a quarter of a mile in, I passed a rusted gate hanging half off the hinges.  The house was really not much more than a shack with an old couch on the porch and windows that were in bad need of repair.  It was almost dark, that time when you can see a light on in a window when the sky is darker than it is light.  There was no garage and no car, so I was wondering if my appointment was even home.  I was there to talk about new windows, or at least storm windows, and a quick glance showed that the house was actually deteriorating around the frames so I was asking myself if we could even do anything for this homeowner.

I parked, picked my way past the rotted porch floorboards and knocked.  I confess, I knocked lightly as I was hoping nobody was home so I wouldn’t waste my time on this lead.  As I turned to leave, I heard a male voice shout that I should come in.  “Crap!” I thought as I turned the doorknob and tentatively entered the house.  “Hello, my name is Dan and I am from the replacement window company,” I said as I slowly obeyed the command.  The living room was very small, maybe 10 x 10 and there was a worn-out recliner straight on from the front door.

The man sat under a very low wattage lamp.  There was a small area rug, an old black and white TV, and a simple black phone on a tin tray table next to him along with an ash tray spilling out cigarette butts.  There was a pile of wood shavings on the floor in front of his chair and he was whittling something as I approached.  “Get a chair from the kitchen and come talk to me about my windows.   This past winter was brutal on me.”

I pulled up a chair and sat, and my heart was racing.  The man, we’ll call him Bob for this story, had no legs, a right arm with a hand that had nubs for fingers, no left arm, long, oily hair hanging down past his beard and an eye patch over his left eye.  His face was scarred and his voice was ragged, presumably from years of smoking.

I gave a quick presentation of storm windows because it seemed obvious he had little to no money, which turned out to be correct.  But in the time we were together, we found a common bond.  He was a door gunner in Vietnam during the TET Offensive in ’68, and went from a small-town boy to a torn apart body of a man whose heart and soul was ripped away along with his lost limbs and eye.  In fact, as I shared some of my story of being a ‘Nam alumni, he poured out his pain.  This meeting of veterans was in 1984, 14 years after his being torn apart from concentrated ground fire.  It was always the goal of the Viet Cong to take out a door gunner when possible to stop some of the devastating M-50 machine gun attacks from the sky.

He shared his story of being in the hospital for over a year, and of the complications from taking so many rounds.  At one point, he pulled up his shirt and showed his body; riddled with scars.  I cried as he related the pain, the loss of hope, the confusion, the loneliness and the isolation his life had become.  He nodded to a purple heart next to his phone and bitterly mocked what he got for his trouble as a soldier in Vietnam.

We talked for a couple of hours and I finally said I had to leave, but that I would be back.  I promised.  I told him that, one way or another, he was getting new windows for his house.  And I was good to my word as I split the cost with the owner of the company after sharing Bob’s story.  By the way, we had to give him a new fence, too, because I tore his fence up trying to back out in pitch dark as I was squinting through my reddened eyes from the experience of meeting Bob.

I am sharing this story because Memorial Day is upon us once again.  Many years have passed and nearly all of us “old timer Vietnam vets” still live out our night terrors.  For me, I took my uniform off in 1971…48 years ago.  But there are living vets from WWII, Korea, and all the mid-East wars right up to newly created vets leaving the service as you read this as people that served their country with pride, and dignity and honor.  These people, your grandparents and parents, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters and sons and daughters need to be remembered, particularly those whose deaths happened as a result of time served in our great military.  Veterans Day is meant for all of these people, and Memorial Day is for the departed.  However, I believe that there are many walking dead among us who lost a big part of who they might have been by fighting for this county, and they need to be honored and remembered every day.

I ask that all who read this article find time on Sunday, May 26 at 1:00, rain or shine, to come out to Calumet Park Cemetery and join with other like-minded people who wish to make a show of appreciation to our men and women of the armed forces.

People like Bob lost everything.  With his torn body, mind and soul, he had a lifetime that was so different than he could have ever imagined before he put on his first pair of Army boots.  He and all of his brothers and sisters in arms deserve an hour of respect and genuine thanks.

Oh, the wood shavings.  The picture of the wood carving of the wizard shown with this article was carved by good old, one eyed, one armed, no fingered Bob as a gift to me in March of 1984.  It took him a couple of months to whittle it from a branch that came down with his fence from my inability to back up a car when leaving his home that winter night.  It hangs on my office wall to this day as a reminder that there can always be something good coming from something bad.  Bob was willing to share a couple of his hours with me, and created a work of art kindled by our mutual respect for time served for this country.  To me, this simple work of Bob has always had more meaning than all the medals that were awarded to me for my work in Nam.

I never saw Bob again, but that time together still occupies a part of my heart that reminds me that nobody is too tough to cry.  Never forget that “there but through the grace of God go I”.

mycalumetpark.com

 

Memorial weekend sale at Calumet Park Cemetery in Merrillville….

Watch for the Spring Newsletter for the Memorial Weekend Schedule

When a death occurs, who do you call?

When a death occurs at home or not in a medical institution: Under hospice care, call your hospice nurse.  They will confirm your loved one’s death and consult with a physician if necessary.  When you are ready to have the decedent removed from your home or other non-institutional place of death, contact your funeral home for further information and assistance.

Did you know that Calumet Park has three funeral homes for your convenience:  Merrillville (219.736.5840), Hobart (219.940.3791) and Rendina Funeral Home (219.980.1141)

When not under hospice care and a death occurs outside of a medical institution, it is necessary to first call the coroner or medical examiner to confirm the death.  This may be done by calling your local police or sheriff department at 911.  Once the coroner or medical examiner has arrived, let them know of your preference to contact us for further information or assistance (or your funeral home of choice).

When a death occurs in an institution: such as a hospital or nursing home, the medical staff will generally take care of all necessary steps.  All you would need to do is to notify the staff that you would like to have us handle the arrangements so that they can have you sign any necessary release paperwork.  It is always your choice as to what funeral home you prefer.  The institution will contact us to make arrangements so that we can assume custody of the deceased.

When a death occurs out of state or out of the area: If death occurs outside of Indiana or away from the region, please call us first so we can coordinate with a local funeral director at the place of death to have your loved one returned to this area. By being a member of several national associations, we can often save you money and added stress by having our firm make the arrangement to have your loved one brought back to Indiana.  Likewise, if your loved one is from out of the area, we can help with arrangements to get them to a funeral home in their hometown.

By contacting us first, we will assist you by answering any questions you may have.  We will listen and review the many available options that best meet your preferences and financial needs.  We want you to know that you are not alone and our caring staff will help make your loss as easy on you as possible.

Please have the following information available when you call our funeral home for help:

1.  legal name and location of the deceased and

2.  your name, phone number and your relationship to the person who will be in charge of making the arrangements with a funeral director.

3.  finally, for your meeting with your funeral director of choice, please bring the following to help in making the transition go as smoothly as possible – decedent’s legal name, sex, social security number, date of birth, date of death, birthplace (city, state, zip), if in military what branch, marital status, surviving spouse’s name, maiden name if wife, decedent’s occupation, complete address at the time of death, decedent’s highest level of education, if Hispanic origin (State of Indiana asks this for death certificate), what race, father’s name, mother’s name, and mother’s maiden last name.

4.  When you meet with your funeral director, bring all of the info listed plus the following:  burial clothing including undergarments and shoes, recent photograph, clergy name and phone number, copy of military discharge (DD214 or equivalent) when applicable to get all benefits from government and all the special discounts that Calumet Park and Rendina Funeral Home give, any applicable life insurance policies along with the phone number of your insurance agent, and the name of your cemetery of choice (Calumet Park – 2018 winner of best cemetery in the country would be an excellent choice) and deeds and contracts with the cemetery.

If you have any questions regarding anything you just read, please call 219-769-8803.  Check out our new website at http://www.mycalumetpark.com

Spring is here…time to decorate graves for Memorial Weekend … check with the office please before you decorate

Example of what is not allowed at Calumet Park

On March 20, Spring came to NW Indiana.  And as soon as we get a few nice days in a row, many families start thinking of decorating the graves of their loved ones.  As much as we understand the reasoning behind such activity, we want to remind everyone that there are decorating rules at Calumet Park Cemetery regarding what is and is not allowed in the cemetery.

In 1928, before the first burial was made, the founders of Calumet Park Cemetery had to decide on what type of cemetery they wanted to design; for the times they were living in, and for all generations to follow.  Having to set certain rules as far as decorating graves was concerned, a great deal of debate went on as some wanted an “anything goes” type of cemetery, while others felt a park-like setting would offer the best place for showing respect and feeling tranquility when visiting.

Simple, uncluttered graves were as envisioned by the forefathers of the 400 acre cemetery in Merrillville, Indiana.  The rules set down in 1928 have been strictly adhered to by the current generation of owners, all descendants of the original founders of Calumet Park Cemetery.  A testament to those 90-year old decisions has resulted in Calumet Park Cemetery being named the Cemetery of the Year for 2018 by American Cemetery and Cremation magazine; also in their 90^th year of publishing.

Cover story of December 2018 issue of American Cemetery and Cremation magazine

The photo shown above is filled with mementos, color, and creativity that meets the needs of the families buried there.  But, multiply this scene by tens of thousands of graves and it would not be difficult to see the formation of a nightmare come to life.  Many cemeteries in the country that have allowed an anything goes decorating policy are spending a great deal of time, money and effort in their attempt to find a legal way out of the chaotic appearances of their grounds after a couple of windy days.  What looked pretty when placed soon becomes an eyesore and a maintenance nightmare.

If you feel that you need to be able to display whatever you choose, then we kindly invite you to search around NW Indiana for a cemetery that gives you comfort in this way of displaying your remembrance of your lost loved ones.  If you want to have a beautiful, well kept, orderly and respectfully dignified final resting place, come visit us.  Calumet Park Cemetery has so many choices to meet anyone’s need and price point.

Any one of our Family Service Counselors would be more than happy to take you on a tour of Calumet Park on the corner of 73^rd and Taft in Merrillville.  They will explain what decorations may be used on whatever section that you would be interested in.  Simply put, no artificial decorations are allowed anywhere in the cemetery.   Some sections allow planting of flowers and some permit only cut flowers in approved vases.  The best advice would be, for anyone wishing to do something at a loved one’s final resting place, to check in at the office before spending money on items that are not permitted.

It should be understood that the grounds crew will remove and dispose of any unauthorized grave decorations (or mausoleum or niche) without contacting the owner of the burial rights.  There are thousands upon thousands of graves in just the developed 175 acres of land, and over 50,000 burials.  The sheer size of Calumet Park makes for a special challenge regarding maintenance, and having decorations that are not permitted only adds to the challenge.

If you have questions, please call 219-769-8803 and visit our website at mycalumetpark.com or facebook at mycalumetpark.