Philip served for 20 years in the Air Force, where he received his anesthesia education in the Air Force Nurse Anesthesia Program. After his Air Force anesthesia work, he continued in private practice as a nurse anesthetist for 19 more years to date.
He and my dear sister-in-law, Maribeth, have returned to Singers Glen, Virginia where we were raised. They built a beautiful log home on a lot from our family farm.
Just down the hill from their home is a cemetery.
It was the site of St. John Lutheran Church, which has been there since the 1700’s. The church building was last used in 1956. It was disassembled and reconstructed at the Lutheran retreat camp in Fort Valley, VA, in the 1980’s.
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| Reconstructed St John’s Church in Fort Valley, VA 2018 photo |
When Philip moved back to the Shenandoah Valley, he drove by the cemetery and noticed it needed care and attention. He began with volunteering his time and effort to mow, edge, and clean up the site. The cemetery had not had really attentive care since the 1950’s.
Philip got in touch with Mark Byerly, a Lutheran trustee of the cemetery. Phil has since become a trustee himself. He plans to be buried there when his day comes. We have three generations of May’s buried there dating back to the early 1800’s, not including the two latest generations laid to rest in the Singers Glen cemetery.
So, after getting the mowing, weed-eating, and picking up debris processes in working order, he got some dead trees taken down, and had the fenced fixed.
Philip and his wife, Maribeth, redesigned and had a new sign made.
There was more work to be done:
Trash and Bush Removal
Overgrowth Removal
Fence Repair
Gravestones were found in one corner of the cemetery which was overgrown with weeds and vines. They are displayed on the back of the church steps, which still remain on the cemetery property.
Church Steps – This is all that is left of the church.
Some tombstones were broken and needed repair with glue, cement
and a splint till they were ready to stand on their own.
and a splint till they were ready to stand on their own.
Next was one of the most dramatic and showy parts of his project. He took on the job of cleaning all the black mold, green moss, and mildew off the tombstones!!!
Note: "Painting the fence with Tom Sawyer. One of the most iconic scenes from Mark Twain's novels is when Tom Sawyer has to whitewash the fence. As we know, Tom manages to come up with a clever solution by luring his friends into doing the job for him."
He got cousins Jim Bowman, Bill May, and his son, Levi May to help. Plus, he obtained support and help from Maribeth May and Jason Rohrer, a neighbor, along the way.
One evening, Gary and I stopped by to see what was happening. In his usual Tom Sawyer fashion, Philip handed the wand to Gary. Meanwhile, he and Cousin Jim Bowman discussed "manly" topics.
One evening, Gary and I stopped by to see what was happening. In his usual Tom Sawyer fashion, Philip handed the wand to Gary. Meanwhile, he and Cousin Jim Bowman discussed "manly" topics off to the side. Gary got totally immersed - and I don’t mean in water.
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| (Gary in his glory!) |
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| Mary Sheldon, Daughter of E.N. and E.F. Gowl, Born Feb. 8, 1907, Died Aug. 8, 1910 |
I admire and commend my brother
for undertaking such a
Respectful Retirement Project.
for undertaking such a
Respectful Retirement Project.
Below are only a few of the sites I found about St. John's Cemetery. It is all fascinating.
1. Cemetery Index:
http://sites.rootsweb.com/~varockin/HRHS/cem/stjohns.htm
2. Cemetery list by Surname:
http://www.heritagecenter.com/cemeteries/M/may.html
3. Another Cemetery Index
http://www.heritagecenter.com/cemeteries/cem/cem37.html
4. Cemetery Index of many churches
http://www.heritagecenter.com/cemeteries/cemindex.html
