‘Keeping their memories alive’: Cemetery volunteers to lead workshop on cleaning, resetting fallen headstones

For the past two years, Bill Bray has been on a mission to restore abandoned cemeteries.

Bray, 57, of Penn Township, has cleaned headstones covered in years of mold, moss and lichen and reset stones that tipped over or sunk into the earth.

The Army veteran has replaced nearly 75 headstones at cemeteries in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio for veterans who served in World War I, the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.

Bray led the charge to restore the Brush Creek Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Cemetery in North Huntingdon, earning himself the 2023 Arthur St. Clair Historic Preservation Award.

He does it to ensure deceased veterans are not forgotten.

“It’s just my way of saying thank you for their service and keeping their memories alive,” said Bray, who served in the Army from 1984 to 1993.

Next week, Bray will pass his knowledge of headstone restoration on to the Westmoreland community.

Bray will lead a workshop on Aug. 17 teaching attendees how to clean and reset headstones. It will be held at the Harrison City Presbyterian Cemetery, located on Route 130 in Penn Township.

Once Bray is done demonstrating the cleaning and resetting techniques, attendees will be able to try out the methods themselves.

The cemetery is in need of as many helping hands as possible, Bray said.

With its last burial recorded in 1963, the cemetery no longer has an official owner.

Although the township mows the grass from time to time, Bray is one of few volunteers who tend the site — which is the final resting place for 15 Civil War veterans, two World War I veterans and the founder of Penn Township’s Harrison City neighborhood, John Rankin.

“The ultimate goal (is) to find a historical group … to take ownership of it, maintain it,” Bray said.

The cleaning process starts by soaking the headstone with water, he said. A plastic scraper can be used to remove heavy mold, moss and lichen from the stone’s surface.

Bray also uses D2 Biological Solution, which has been approved by the National Cemetery Association for use at historic sites such as Arlington National Cemetery. It’s important to scrub the stone with a soft bristle brush to protect its surface, he said.

The second half of the workshop will focus on resetting headstones that have fallen out of place or sunken into the earth. This usually involves lifting up the base, putting down crushed stone and securing the headstone in place with a layer of putty epoxy and setting compound, Bray said.

Sue Kochman, who will assist Bray with the workshop, said Dawn dish soap is also a safe cleaning material. She sometimes uses a toothbrush to reach the curves and crevices of the letters engraved in the headstone.

Harsh cleaning agents such as bleach should be avoided, she said, as they can damage the stone.

Kochman taught English for 33 years, most of which was spent at Hempfield Area High School. When she retired in 2021, she began pursuing her passion for genealogy by volunteering at cemeteries.

“It’s always a part of how I taught English,” said Kochman, 58, of North Irwin. “I always taught kids that English and history go together.”

It is common for headstones at abandoned cemeteries to become illegible, hidden under years of grime, said Kochman, president of the North Irwin council. She enjoys uncovering the names and recording them on Find A Grave, an online database with information on millions of gravesites across the globe.

Kochman estimates she has recorded about 1,600 graves to the site. She finds it rewarding to help people find their loved ones’ place of rest, which may otherwise be forgotten.

“I know you don’t think of cemeteries as fun,” she said, “but I enjoy connecting family members.”

Although volunteers have made a good dent in restoring the Brush Creek Cemetery, Kochman said projects like these last a lifetime.

“It’s a lot better than it was, but it still needs a lot of work,” she said. “It’s probably going to be most of the rest of our lives.”