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Near the south shore of the Great Salt Lake lies a small well-kept cemetery in the town of Lake Point, Utah. And LeAnn Carreola and DeAnn Wall are related to nearly every person buried there!
LeAnn got interested in preserving the records of her ancestors in the Lake Point Cemetery when she saw photos and records others had posted online. She says, "I saw some of the gravemarkers online and thought what a neat thing it was that relatives and interested people could go to these sites and actually see [the photos of] the grave with its marker, and get the information they wanted off of the marker itself."
LeAnn decided she wanted to do the same for her own ancestors. She had previously done some work for the North Ogden City Cemetery, so she contacted them and asked where she should start. They guided her to NAMES IN STONE, where she could not only post photos online, but create her own cemetery map.
From there, LeAnn says, it was easy!
"I contacted Bruce at Names in Stone and he was willing to meet with me so that he could show me the program and all its benefits. The Names in Stone website tells you exactly what to take with you and how to map the cemetery. So I followed the guidelines on the website which were easy and fun."
She continues, "I loved meeting with the Names in Stone people. They were wonderful to work with."
At the cemetery, the sisters mapped out the graves on paper and recorded the headstone data from each grave. Then they took photos of each headstone to attach to the map when they created their digital map on NAMES IN STONE.
LeAnn and DeAnn had some touching experiences while at the cemetery. LeAnn says, "A neat experience I had was when I was just taking pictures. There were three sisters around the grave of their recently deceased father. They were crying and talking about how much they missed their father.
"I walked over to them because they kept looking at me. I knew they were wondering what I was doing. I explained to them that I was taking pictures of the graves to put them online so that people all over the world could visit the graves.
"They were so delighted and told me that their brother was moving out of State the next week and was distraught over not being able to visit his father's grave. Now they could tell him the grave was going to be online and that he would be able to visit the grave anytime he wanted, day or night.
"They thanked me over and over again for doing this great work and service for them. It was very sweet and gratifying to know that this work made a difference to people I didn't even know."
What advice do LeAnn and DeAnn have for others who would like to preserve cemetery information?
- Go for it! "Learn the [Names in Stone] program, it's so easy to do. Then pick out your favorite graveyard that has not already been done and go for it. It is an amazing experience."
- Get your family involved. "The work is easy and I loved getting my family involved with this work. We had a great time doing this together. It only took us 2 1/2 hours to do the entire cemetery with three people."
- Be organized and methodical. "I would be more methodical in the way I photographed the graves and make sure I got each and every headstone photographed. I found that I left a few headstones out and need to go back to finish the job."
Thanks LeAnn and DeAnn for your efforts! Would you like to see the results of their hard work? Visit the NAMES IN STONE map of the Lake Point Utah Cemetery.
Are you interested in mapping a cemetery where your ancestors are buried? Find out how!
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