SEATTLE – Amid two record-setting months, the staff at the Archdiocese of Seattle’s four cemeteries have continued working hard to serve families with compassion and bury the dead with dignity. 

“It has been challenging,” Richard Peterson, president of Associated Catholic Cemeteries, said of the 256 burials at the cemeteries in July and August, about a third more than average. 

But the staff works with the awareness that “these are members of the faithful who have died … real people that are in relationship with God,” Peterson said, a reminder that working in Catholic cemeteries is a ministry of the Church. 

Over the past five years, the archdiocesan cemeteries — Calvary in Seattle, Holyrood in Shoreline, Gethsemane in Federal Way and St. Patrick in Kent — have averaged a total of 86 burials a month, Peterson said. 

But in July, 115 people were interred at the cemeteries, “the busiest month we had ever had,” since March 1960, he said. Then August rolled around, surpassing July with 141 burials. 

Peterson said it’s not surprising that burials began increasing after the state opened up June 30. The recent burials include deaths from 2020 and 2021, he said. About 10 percent of the July-August burials were people who died between March and June 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. 

“I think there’s a COVID impact beyond those two months,” with a 16–17% increase in burials of cremated remains, Peterson noted.

So far, September is also above normal — although less than July and August — with 95 burials expected by month’s end, Peterson said.

The Archdiocese of Seattle’s Associated Catholic Cemeteries saw a 16–17% increase in burial of cremated remains during July and August, its busiest months for burials since 1960. Photo: Courtesy Associated Catholic Cemeteries 

Such an increase in burials “does put a lot of stress on the cemetery staff at all levels,” from meeting with families, to preparing the gravesites, to maintaining the grounds and the required records, he said.  

Everyone on the staff wants to a do a good job, Peterson said, because they know the importance of each service to each family. “They’re really hurting people and they want their loved one to be taken care of. Our goal is to try to make it as positive an experience for families as we can,” he said. 

Currently, the cemeteries are not regularly scheduling services on Saturdays to lessen the impact on the staff, Peterson explained. 

“We want to provide everyone with as much excellence as we can. We can’t do that if we have staff that are overextended or burned out,” he explained. “We don’t like to say no to people. We try not to turn people away.” 

The good news is that the services don’t all occur on the same day, he added. About 60–65% of all services occur at Holyrood, the largest archdiocesan cemetery, Peterson said. 

A definite impact from the pandemic is the delay in obtaining grave markers and monuments. Instead of four to six weeks, it can now take eight to 10 months to receive a marker if the stone is not in stock in the U.S., Peterson said. “This is the first time we’ve had this kind of supply chain issues” in his 30 years as cemetery director, he said. 

For those who have lost a loved one, it’s important to be able to visit the grave, see their loved one’s name — not just a piece of grass — and pray, Peterson said. 

“We are working with our suppliers. We don’t want the families disappointed,” he said. 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.