Providence Community Cemetery blessed

In the summer issue of HOPE magazine, we Sisters of Providence laid out our plans for our newest outreach ministry: the creation of Providence Community Cemetery. Here we will receive for interment the cremains of persons other than members of the Congregation.

The columbarium wall housing two columbaria was completed in early November. The columbaria were blessed on Nov. 9 by Father Dan Hopcus, with many sisters and Providence Associates attending the ceremony. The occasion also marked the interment of the cremains of Providence Associate Heather Tetzlaff Smith. Another Providence Associate, Donna Kaye Stites, will be interred in the spring.

The Good Shepherd Chapel, now nearly complete, will be blessed and dedicated in honor of former chaplain, Father Bernie Head, on Sunday, May 10, which is the third anniversary of Father Bernie’s death. It was Father Bernie’s generous bequest that enabled the sisters to build the open-sided chapel as a gathering space for sisters and other mourners to offer the committal prayers prior to interment. Many parishioners from St. Mary’s Village Church, where Father Bernie served for many years, joined the sisters for the dedication.

Several requests for interment in Providence Community Cemetery have been processed in recent months. If you have a significant and long-standing relationship with the Sisters of Providence and are interested in further information, go to CommunityCemetery.SistersofProvidence.org and fill out the “Interest” form. Or call Sister Ann Casper, Providence Community Cemetery minister, at 812-535-2828, to express your interest.

(Originally published in the Winter 2020 issue of HOPE magazine.)