Gethsemani Cemetery

Gardens ofGethsemani has started construction on a multimillion-dollar project to expand the space available for Catholics to bury their loved ones.“It is carefully prepared with the community in mind,” Catholic Cemeteries director Peter Nobes said in an interview.The mausoleumswill be as large as some small residential homes, with 195 crypts and more than 2,000 niches to be added to the cemetery in Phase 1 alone.Although it is one of the cemetery’s biggest expansion projects since Archbishop Duke boughtthe land in the 1950s, Nobes said Gardens of Gethsemani will maintain itspeaceful, park-like setting.“We love for it to be a place of peace,a place of remembrance and reverence,” he said.The project is inspired in part by the Cedar Grove cemetery at Notre Dame University, where Gardens of Gethsemani staff attended a recent Catholic Cemetery Conference.Rather than building one massive stone structure for thousandsof crypts and niches, Nobes believes the “village” concept will give the sacredgrounds a more intimate feel. There will be walkways, statues, a water feature,and landscaping with plenty of new trees.“There is a lot of careful planning thatgoes into cemetery design,” he said. An aerial view of all four phases of the Holy Angels Mausolea and Columbaria. (Submitted)Gardens of Gethsemani needs the expansion project. Outreachcoordinator Terry Whiteley said there is a growing waiting list of people requestingglass-fronted niches (which hold urns), and a limited number of cryptspaces (which hold caskets) left.“In the early days, your parish had a cemetery outside thedoor,” she said. Now, members of all 77 parishes in the Archdiocese of Vancouver rely onGardens of Gethsemani.“It is a huge development for families,” said Whiteley.The massive construction project, which will be built infour phases, is taking the name Holy Angels Mausolea and Columbaria.“I love the name,” said operations manager Marcia Terlaak. “Wehave a lot of saints reflected in the cemetery,” including St. Andrew Kim, St.Anthony of Padua, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and Our Lady of L...